Andrew Vine: Desperate deal with DUP digs deeper hole for Tories

Shabby because it values the peace and prosperity of a corner of the United Kingdom less than political expediency. Desperate because it seeks to maintain in office a Prime Minister who is finished.

As the aftershocks of the General Election continue to shake what little confidence the Tories have left, it appears to have escaped their notice that courting the DUP stands to make matters even worse.

What could the DUP demand in return for Theresa May’s Conservative partnership?

That is because a key outcome of the catastrophic verdict passed on Theresa May by the electorate was to illustrate that the Conservative brand has become toxic to millions of voters.

To the young, people sick of seeing the rich apparently get richer whilst the poor struggle, and those uneasy at aggressive posturing over Brexit – which can only be compounded by the return of Michael Gove to the Cabinet – the party has come to symbolise everything that they detest.

And now, as if to deliberately insult those voters, this tottering administration is wedding itself to the most socially illiberal grouping in Parliament to prop itself up.

Glowering DUP disapproval of abortion and, by extension the rights of women, and also same-sex marriage, put it at odds with the enlightened and fair-minded views of mainstream voters in the rest of the UK.

As a calculated move to drive yet more people into the arms of Labour whenever the next election comes – possibly within months – this grubby deal that swaps principles for votes could hardly be bettered.

Significantly, the only senior Tory who seems to fully appreciate how off-putting the DUP is to voters is the party’s only proven vote-winner – Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson.

Her disquiet about the DUP’s outlook on equality should be heeded, since it shows an understanding of the electorate sadly lacking in Conservative high command. But since Ms Davidson is not an MP her views are unlikely to carry the weight they deserve at Westminster.

The politics of Northern Ireland have never been like anywhere else within the UK. Though part of the British electoral system, they have always stood slightly apart. Sectarian hatreds, strict religious views and the nasty stench of bigotry on both the unionist and nationalist sides have seen to that.

Voters in England in particular would be most unlikely to back the DUP if they had the chance, any more than they would support Sinn Fein. Both are too strident and self-righteous for the British mainland to stomach.

Yet now they are about to find the DUP wields a degree of power totally disproportionate to its size.

And what a price there will be to pay. The North of England desperately needs investment in road and rail. Forget it.

Northern Ireland has just shot to the top of the list for any available funding, because the DUP will screw every penny it can out of acting as life-support for a premiership beyond resuscitation.

Even so, that funding may not do the people of the province much good, if the DUP’s recent record is anything to go by.

The party’s leader, Arlene Foster, has a massive stain on her record as a result of presiding over a renewable energy grants scheme that was so badly botched and open to fraud it had to be shut down. The bill to the taxpayers of Northern Ireland was an eye-watering £400m.

But there is a yet more serious reason to be deeply concerned about the Tory-DUP alliance – the future of the Northern Ireland peace process.

The hard-won cessation of violence could potentially be jeopardised by a Government that is perceived to be throwing in its lot with the unionists instead of dealing even-handedly with the nationalists.

Even-handedness was the key to bringing peace to the province. However harsh history’s verdicts are on the premierships of John Major and Tony Blair, the shining achievements of both were the parts they played in ending the violence.

They showed courage and leadership in engaging with nationalists, and persuading them that a scrupulously fair democratic process was the way forward.

There must be no turning back the clock in Northern Ireland. It would not only be a tragedy for the province’s people, but a shameful betrayal of them for short-term political gain.

The Northern Ireland Assembly is already going through a very troubled period, with power-sharing suspended.

A properly responsible incoming Government would have the restoration of the assembly very high on its agenda, conscious that the 20-year history of the peace process has required constant nurturing if it is to continue.

Instead, we are seeing a reckless gamble with peace by a doomed Prime Minister that is both dishonourable and demeaning. She has already thrown the dice once and lost badly. Seemingly, that has taught her nothing.