Tory MP absolutely taken apart by BBC guest

Tory MP James Cleverly has been majorly owned by a guest on the Victoria Derbyshire programme.

Cleverly was discussing the Government’s recent £1bn "confidence and supply" deal with the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, made in order to keep the Conservative government in power through the hung parliament.

Guest and student Elliott said to him:

Northern Ireland has not become deprived overnight. It has been deprived for the entire time you have been in government. So why is it suddenly now, when Theresa May needs to cling on to power… Why now, after seven years of power, are you so interested in injected £1bn of public money… That could be distributed to mental health nurses, to schools, to public sectors? But no, because you want to cling to power, because you have a woman who does not understand the electorate, does not understand the message she has been given by the public, she has now bribed the Northern Irish assembly with £1bn to keep her in power.

Cleverly starts to talk about Northern Irish mental health services, but Elliott interrupts saying:

You’re doing what Tories do, you’re deflecting to other points. It’s a simple question: justify to me in simple terms why you think now, after seven years in government, after seven years of austerity, now is the time to give Northern Ireland – and nobody else in the country - £1bn. Justify that now without saying any Tory soundbites.

Elliott goes on to say:

At the moment, your priority is clinging to power at the detriment to this country. And you can make up your own mind as to whether Cleverly answered the question or not.

Cleverly replied:

Our priority is doing what’s right for the UK… That’s why we’ve entered into an agreement with another political party in the UK to form a stable government. Those negotiations have meant that in addition to the additional spending that we’re putting in to health and public services around the rest of the UK, we are also putting additional spending into Northern Ireland. That is the byproduct of a hung parliament agreement.

Here's the full video:

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