A senior Civil Service source within HM Treasury, in an interview with the Dispatch, has revealed deep opposition to the government’s changes to the Barnett formula.

The source - who wished to remain anonymous - called the changes “an unprecedented betrayal of the equal union of nations that [the United Kingdom] is supposed to be” and called out the government for making “a bad situation so much worse” with regards to the balance of funding between England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

These statements are the latest in criticisms levied at the Chancellor William Gladstone for his controversial budget.

The Shadow Chancellor - Sir Felix Guest-Lyons - has been a particularly vocal opponent of these changes, interrogating the Chancellor and the Prime Minister repeatedly in Parliament.

The Barnett formula was conceived in 1978 by Joel Barnett, then Chief Secretary to the Treasury, in order to divide spending between the home countries.

Since that time it has drawn criticism from all sides, most notably for unfairly benefitting Scotland. In 2004 Joel Barnett himself described it as unfair, stating "It was never meant to last this long, but it has gone on and on and it has become increasingly unfair to the regions of England. I didn't create this formula to give Scotland an advantage over the rest of the country when it comes to public funding."

A needs assessment by HM Treasury in 1993 found that all 3 devolved regions were overfunded compared to England.

The government’s recent changes to the formula assign an additional £4.5 billion to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, on top of what would have already been given to them according to the old formula.

The Prime Minister Arthur Haigh has claimed this is necessary to combat poverty in these regions, stating “The people will no longer be starved of their wealth”.

However a House of Commons briefing paper prepared in June showed that regions of England such as London, the West Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber had the highest rates of people living on Relative Low Income in the UK, with Scotland being below the UK average.

The Chancellor has consistently failed to address this concern when raised in Parliament, going so far as to refuse to answer questions submitted on the subject during Ministers’ Questions last Thursday.

This comes as the latest in a long line of scandals and controversies regarding Gladstone, who was ousted as SDP leader last month due to openly criticising the United Left’s policy on Northern devolution, only to return as co-leader without protest within a matter of weeks.

Despite calls for his resignation, it is unlikely that Gladstone will step down as Chancellor, given the repeated refusal of United Left ministers to resign in response to such calls. Despite this the controversy has damaged their support in national polls, and with a General Election mere months away the days of the United Left may be numbered.