Ministers set for showdown over Israel trade talk block

Stormont ministers are set for a showdown today over a decision by the economy minister to block trade talks with Israel.

Caoimhe Archibald also ordered her department not to fund companies providing weapons for the Israeli government.

She claimed the weapons would be used for “committing genocide” by a country, which she said, “continues to illegally occupy and impose apartheid on Palestine”.

Unionists, outraged by her statement to the assembly in October, have used a call in petition to try and block the minister’s decision.

The rarely used mechanism allows parties at Stormont to challenge a ministerial decision through the speaker’s office.

The DUP tabled the petition, which received the required 30 signatures, and Speaker Edwin Poots then referred the decision back to the executive.

It is meeting this morning to decide if Archibald breached the ministerial code and if her decision should have been subject to executive approval.

But it’s expected Sinn Fein ministers will oppose the move and as a result, there will be no agreement around the executive table.

Archibald has previously defended her decision insisting the matter lay within her statutory responsibility and was driven by a “moral case for action”.

But DUP leader Gavin Robinson accused the minister of “political posturing”.

He added there should be no room for ” ministerial solo runs” on matters as serious as “our trade with Israel”.

For some this is a classic Stormont bubble story which will generate lots of heat but not much light.

For the DUP, deploying this little-used mechanism is about calling out a minister who has overstepped her powers.

But for Sinn Fein, this is nothing more than a political stunt wasting valuable executive time on the eve of a challenging budget.

Whatever way you read it, it is yet another example of how toxic relations have become around the executive table.