UK government accused of bribing MPs on Brexit with funds for their towns

The British government has been accused of trying to bribe lawmakers of deprived regions mostly in the north of the country into voting for a controversial European Union divorce agreement.

John McDonnell, the number two in the ranks of the opposition Labour Party, said Monday that a new government fund dedicated to regions which backed Leave in the June 2016 referendum was a pure attempt to buy the votes of their representatives for an upcoming vote in the parliament on government’s Brexit deal with the EU.

“This towns fund smacks of desperation from a Government reduced to bribing MPs to vote for their damaging flagship Brexit legislation,” said McDonnell, adding, “The reason our towns are struggling is because of a decade of cuts, including to council funding and a failure to invest in businesses and our communities.”

The comments came after the government announced the launch a £1.6 billion investment scheme for areas that it said had enjoyed lower benefits from the nationwide “proceeds of growth”.

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Prime Minister Theresa May, who is struggling to go through the House of Commons with the deal she signed with the EU in November, said the towns targeted in the scheme had a right to enjoy reforms because they had voted for Brexit to see tangible changes in their life.

“Communities across the country voted for Brexit as an expression of their desire to see change - that must be a change for the better, with more opportunity and greater control,” said May whose proposed vote on the Brexit deal will be held in the Commons on March 12.

Some £1 billion from the Stronger Towns Fund will be allocated to the deprived towns on a needs-based formula and another £600 million will be available through a bidding process to communities in any part of the country.

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Anna Soubry, a key lawmaker of May’s Conservative Party who just recently defected to a newly-formed group of independent lawmakers, said people in those regions and their representatives in the Commons will not be fooled by the government money.

Soubry claimed many in the Brexit-backing regions had changed their minds and were supporting the idea of holding a new referendum on the issue.

“Voters will not be fooled - especially those in areas which voted Leave and are now demanding a people's vote because they know, whichever way you do it, Brexit will harm their futures,” she said.

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