LONDON — Theresa May’s government has been accused of “bribing” Labour MPs after announcing plans to give £1.6 billion cash to left-behind English constituencies in an attempt to win support for her Brexit deal.
Labour MPs in Leave-voting constituencies who the prime minister was targeting, including Gareth Snell and Lisa Nandy, criticised May’s efforts and said the cash, would not persuade them to support the prime minister’s deal.
“After decades of neglect, a one-off payment designed to help the Prime Minister ahead of a key Brexit vote will fail, and it will confirm to people in our towns that the government is not serious in its commitment to our communities,” said Lisa Nandy, the MP for Wigan and a former shadow minister.
The communities secretary James Brokenshire denied on Monday that the money was a Brexit bribe and said the cash would be “transformative” and allocated regardless of the outcome of the Brexit vote.
But he also revealed on BBC’s Today programme that the cash would be allocated to English regions over six years rather four, as Downing Street had initially indicated, meaning the average annual sum allocated to regions would be smaller.
The prime minister is expected to put her Brexit deal before parliament for a second time by March 12 and will need the support of some Labour MPs to deliver it in the face of stern opposition from many Conservative backbenchers.
Her deal was defeated by a 230-vote margin in April and there is little sign that Downing Street has persuaded significant numbers of MPs to reverse their position to back the deal.