There have been a number of instances, over the past three years, where we have witnessed lows in our democratic and deliberative processes. The confidence and supply agreement between the government and the Democratic Unionist party is just one of many. In return for an eye-watering £1bn, Theresa May was guaranteed just 10 extra votes. No doubt the prime minister expected, back in 2017, that future Brexit votes would be a lot tighter than the large parliamentary defeats we have seen.
The ethical implications of “cash for votes” still garners much attention, but what seems to be of little concern (outside of Northern Ireland at least) is what is actually happening with the money. The small print in the confidence and supply agreement shows the bulk of the cash has been earmarked for health service transformation and infrastructure development, and a small pot for immediate “pressures” in health and education. Here’s why: with fewer than 2 million people living in Northern Ireland, schools are closing because they can’t attract enough pupils. But a three-week wait for a routine GP appointment isn’t unusual. Hospital referrals are much worse – the 18-week targets English hospitals may miss by a week or two are the stuff of dreams over here, where waits for up to four years (yes, years) for first outpatient appointments are not uncommon. About a third of all patients wait longer than a year and even urgent health consultations have a two-year waiting list in the worst areas.
The schools that do have enough pupils to stay open are withering on the vine, with half estimated to be running a deficit this year and some asking parents to donate stationery and toilet rolls. As Brexit heralds the potential collapse of inward investment in the region, what better place to secure £1bn additional investment?
However, along with GPs and toilet rolls, Northern Ireland is also short of a government. The Stormont assembly closed in January 2017, and Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland Secretary, is resisting direct rule – leaving Northern Ireland with no local leadership, and no direction from Westminster.
The reality on the ground means things tick along, run by civil servants, but there are no major reforms, no new policies or future direction. It also means the DUP’s £1bn is being allocated by officials according to designated pots set out in the agreement to prop up the Conservative government in Westminster, but in the absence of ministerial sign-off, big budget items are being tied up and there is no coordinating vision – not to mention democratic oversight – as the smaller pots are doled out.
David Sterling, head of the Northern Ireland civil service, complained: “Our system of government was not intended to function in the absence of elected representatives … Without ministers, we have no one with a democratic mandate to set new policies … There is also ongoing work regarding planning for the sensible spend of the [£1bn] moneys. However, this is another area where the absence of ministers is handicapping us.”
The DUP heartland: who are the supporters? – video
To those of us living in Northern Ireland, it’s obvious that health and education services need an overhaul. But that requires a cohering policy framework – funding the right things, in the right places, so that we aren’t throwing money at unsustainable services and propping up systems desperate for reform. Brexit may have reduced the region, in Westminster’s eyes, to little more than a political headache in the form of the backstop. Yet 2 million people are living in a devolved administration which has been without a sitting government for 782 days.
Last summer thousands of those people protested in towns across Northern Ireland under the slogan “We deserve better”, calling for Sinn Féin and the DUP to agree to a power-sharing deal so that the members of the assembly could get back to work and lead the country during this critical period in its history.
The campaign uses an important turn of phrase. “Better” – not “more”. The cash for votes secured by the DUP may have caused a ruckus in Westminster – not to mention Scotland and Wales – but it’s little consolation for those living in Northern Ireland, where two years of political limbo and public service stagnation is taking its toll.
• Claudia Wood is former chief executive of the thinktank Demos, and now lives in Northern Ireland
