THE leader of Swindon's Labour group has accused the Government of doing a deal to send money to Northern Ireland while neglecting other parts of the UK.

Since falling short of a majority at the General Election, the Conservatives have been in talks with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party in a bid to agree a 'confidence and supply' deal.

It was finally agreed on Monday and will see the DUP's 10 MPs vote with the Government on key issues including the Queen's Speech and Brexit.

As part of the agreement, Northern Ireland will get an additional £1bn over two years to be spent on infrastructure, ultra-fast broadband and tackling deprivation as well as health and education.

But the Labour leader in Swindon has joined others in the opposition parties in questioning the fairness of the deal for other parts of the country.

Jim Grant pointed to a failure to secure Government funding for the Thamesdown Drive extension and said less money is going into schools, bus services and libraries while children's centres have already been closed.

He said: "How is it fair that Northern Ireland is getting £1bn just so that this weak Tory Government can remain for two years yet Swindon and other places in the UK get nothing?

"This £1bn could have funded the Thamesdown Drive Extension Road, prevented cuts to Swindon’s schools and kept running our bus services that have so badly been cutback.

"If you think about the Thamesdown Drive Extension Road, we were not given Government investment for this because there wasn’t the money. Now Northern Ireland will be getting this money.

"It is quite obvious that this £1bn isn’t in the national interest, but is the price for the Tory Party to stay in power for two years. It’s self-serving for the Conservative Party and the rest of the UK, including Swindon, is being short changed.

"Of course the Government could have decided that all of the UK needs extra investment rather than just Northern Ireland, and if they had done this they would have got Labour’s support.

"I would urge Swindon’s two MPs to do the right thing for Swindon and call for all of the UK to get extra government investment, rather than just Northern Ireland for politically expedient reasons.”

But the town's MPs have rejected his characterisation of the deal and have suggested that he is playing politics with the future stability of the country.

North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson said Coun Grant had got into an "embarrassing muddle" over figures.

"Swindon has already secured £169m extra infrastructure funding under the Conservative Government," he added. "All opposed by Labour each and every year in Parliament.

"Rather than being programmed by his party he should focus his anger at those irresponsible Labour MPs who have voted against fairer funding for our schools and hospitals and the New Home Bonus scheme, all delivering vital funding for our local services.

"Whilst Labour organise protest marches and attend festivals we are getting on with running the country.

"Today's agreement will ensure that we can govern in the national interest, with support on the Queen's Speech, the Budget and on legislation for Brexit and our national security - strengthening and enhancing the Union, keeping our country safe, delivering prosperity for all, and securing a departure from the European Union which benefits all parts of the United Kingdom."

Robert Buckland, the MP for South Swindon and the Government's Solicitor General, also hit back at the criticism.

He said: "Labour are guilty of double standards here. I don't remember Jim Grant objecting to Gordon Brown's attempts to gain support from the DUP in 2010.

"Labour lost this election. We need as stable a Government as possible which is why this arrangement is necessary. The last thing the country needs now is a Corbyn-led extreme left Labour government.

"We are not making some sort of choice between spending in Northern Ireland and spending here. Our national infrastructure fund tops £23bn so this is just party politicking of the worst kind.

"I will continue to campaign for more investment in Swindon's infrastructure on top of the £169m already secured since 2010."