Editorial: Sinn Fein should not be allowed to subvert UK arms policies - it harms the reputation of Northern Ireland’s private defence-related companies

A Stormont minister has tried to prevent Northern Ireland companies supplying arms to Israel.

​This is clearly outside of the remit of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Whether or not UK companies are entitled to supply Britain’s key ally in the Middle East is clearly a matter that is reserved to the national parliament at Westminster, as it falls under trade and defence.

The matter of supplying arms to Israel is not only outside of the remit of the Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald, who has taken this unilateral decision on arms, it harms the reputation of Northern Ireland’s private defence-related companies. There is a long tradition of such manufacturing here, such as what was once known as Shorts Missile Systems.

We cannot afford to take such an indulgent approach to that kind of top notch manufacturing production, even if the cause was a just one. It is not a just one because Israel was forced to defend itself against the Islamic extremist mass murdering barbarians of Hamas, after their massacres of two years ago, on October 7 2023.

The unionist reaction to Ms Archibald has been the right one: all three parties have opposed what she is doing and are supporting a call-in of it, which requires the support of a third of the 90 MLAs – 30 of them – to be brought before the entire executive.

This means that it will get the consideration it deserves, from the multi-party governing coalition at Stormont.

Sinn Fein is a party that wants to splinter the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is entitled to have such an aspiration.

But it is not entitled to subvert policy making on matters that can only be decided at a national level.

UK government ministers need to make that clear.