THE grubby deal Theresa May has done with the inappropriately-named Democratic Unionist Party is a disgrace to the so-called parliamentary democracy of the United Kingdom, and an insult to the other two major devolved nations of Scotland and Wales.

The commitment of an extra £1 billion of additional public spending in Northern Ireland is exclusively for the benefit of the Conservative Party by bolstering its votes to a marginal majority in the Commons. But the money will not be provided out of that party’s private funds; it will come from public income derived from the taxes paid by UK citizens and companies. That is a constitutional outrage.

Normally under Barnett formula principles, payments made from central government funds to the devolved nations of the UK are made on a population-based, pro-rata basis, with some adjustment for special circumstances or needs. Making a substantial extra contribution to Northern Ireland to gain a party political advantage is a breach of that well-established principle and should be challenged in Parliament and the courts.

On a different matter, I send my condolences to the 12 Scottish Conservatives MPs. It seems that not a single one is deemed worthy to be the official deputy to the uninspiring Scottish Secretary David Mundell. Instead, a Tory MEP has had to be summarily ennobled, to make him available to fill that challenging and influential post. That is an insult both to British democracy and to the voters who apparently wasted their votes in these constituencies.

Iain AD Mann, 7 Kelvin Court, Glasgow.

The £1 billion bribe to the DUP to prop up Theresa May and her Government must rank as one the most hypocritical and fractious acts ever.

It is hypocritical because it signals money is available if needed to stay in power; money that is not available where it is needed for nurses, firemen, police and the poor in society.

It is fractious because it threatens the Good Friday Agreement, simultaneously sowing the seeds of distrust in Northern Ireland and the seeds of resentment in Wales and Scotland. Much damage has been caused though this act of self-preservation.

I was originally open-minded about the Prime Minister, encouraged by her pledge to fight injustice and make Britain “a country that works for everyone”.

Her true colours have now been revealed and they are not a pretty combination. She can never be trusted again and the sooner she goes the better.

Paul Shaw, 20 Argyle Way, Dunblane.

SO Downing Street has announced that there will be no additional funding for Scotland as the result of the deal struck between the UK Government and the Democratic Unionist Party. Ten DUP members in Northern Ireland who are not part of the Conservative party can secure £1 billion in extra funding but 12 Conservative Members of Parliament in Scotland achieve nothing.

Ian Lawson, 22 Buchanan Street, Milngavie, Glasgow.

ARLENE Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, in her public statement made it quite clear that this was a deal “with the Conservative Party” yet it is the British Government and thus the UK taxpayers who will be forced to pay for this very partisan political deal.

Political deals tend to have undetermined consequences. Within the context of a deal made with only one political side of the Northern Irish administration, the future is at best uncertain.

I close, appropriately, with Burns from Tae a Mouse: “Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me!

The present only toucheth thee: But Och! I backward cast my e’e, On prospects drear!

An’ forward tho’ I canna see, I guess an’ fear!”

Thom Cross, 18 Needle Green, Carluke.

THE self-satisfied incompetence of this Conservative Government could have no better exemplar than David Davis’s appearance on the Andrew Marr programme on Sunday (“David warns SNP against blocking Brexit legislation”, The Herald, June 26). The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union obfuscated in a fashion that exhibited contempt for his interviewer, the viewing audience and an electorate he thinks has given him a safe job for another five years.

We’ll see about that.

This is the man who is leading our negotiation on Brexit. I would not trust him to lock my door without mislaying the key. Is there to be no end to the arrogance and folly of these people and are we, the people of our various nations, expected to continue to tolerate their stupidity because of a few marginal counts in a defective electoral system? I make no secret of my hope for the future of the United Kingdom.

But I have too many friends and kin furth of Scotland to wish for anything but the best outcome from the Brexit negotiations.

That requires picking the best players.

I would not allow the present team into the corridor outside the locker room.

KM Campbell, Bank House, Doune.

CASH for honours has nothing on the new deal between the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionists, which amounts to cash for power.

This is a shameful and devious deal concluded with taxpayers’ cash and all to keep the Conservatives in power at any cost.

Catriona C Clark, 52 Hawthorn Drive, Banknock, Falkirk.

COULD someone please explain the nuances between “no deal” (which would be very, very bad for the UK according to Philip Hammond); “no deal is better than a bad deal” (according to Theresa May); and “no deal would be better than a punishment deal” (according to David Davis).

Apart from the constant shifting in position, it seems to me that, regardless of whether there is no deal, a bad deal or a punishment deal, it will the fault of the European Union.

We have a deal, then?

P Fabien, 41 Kingsborough Gardens, Glasgow.