Minister defends position ahead of no confidence motion

Education Minister Paul Givan has defended using department resources to share images of his visit to a school in Jerusalem, describing the engagement as “entirely non-political”.

It comes as a no confidence motion in his role as minister is expected to be tabled at Stormont later over a six-day trip to Israel.

The no confidence motion has been submitted by Gerry Carroll from People Before Profit (PBP) and is being backed by Sinn Féin and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).

The motion is expected to receive the 30 signatures required to reach the floor of the Northern Ireland Assembly and push it to a vote.

It will be next week, at the earliest, before a vote can take place, but the motion is already destined to fail as it requires cross-community support from unionists and nationalists.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show on Monday, Givan said the trip “came at no cost to the tax payer, at all”.

The minister was among a number of local unionists politicians who took part in the six-day trip which was organised by the Israeli government.

Others included DUP MP Sammy Wilson, Steve Aiken from the UUP and TUV councillor Ron McDowell.

During the trip, they received a briefing from Israel’s foreign ministry; visited a Holocaust memorial; met victims of Hamas and toured Ofek School in Jerusalem.

On 7 October 2023, about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were abducted during a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

Israel then launched a military campaign in Gaza during which more than 68,500 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

In September, the world’s leading association of genocide scholars declared that genocide was taking place in Gaza, but Israel continues to reject that claim.

After photos of the school visit were shared by the Department of Education, the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) said the department “should be politically neutral” and called for promotion of his visit to be removed from its sites.

“I would challenge anybody to point out within the statement that was released through my department, any commentary of a political nature in relation to Israel,” Givan said.

“It was entirely non-political in terms of that aspect of the trip, which obviously, as Paul Givan the education minister I visited the school and it would seem entirely appropriate that would be highlighted by the department,” he said.

“I didn’t use the department to highlight any other aspect of this visit because I was there as a wider delegation, but it did obviously entail an element of it that related to my education remit.”

When asked if he is concerned about the children killed or injured by Israel, Givan said: “I am absolutely concerned.”

He was then asked where on the Department of Education website has he spoken about that, Givan replied: “Why would I use the Department of Education to engage in political commentary?”

He said this is “the distinction that people need to make”, that the Department of Education statement “related exclusively and only to a visit to a school, which one should recognise as being welcomed because of the diverse nature within that school”.

“It didn’t engage in politics.”

On Saturday, PBP held a rally against the minister outside Belfast City Hall.

It was attended by teachers, Gaza solidarity supporters, community groups and some politicians.

On Monday, PBP assembly member Gerry Carroll told BBC’s The Nolan Show the education minister’s credibility was “completely shot” with his visit to Israel.

“What I would say to the minister is do you understand how much anger you have caused by going to Israel and giving them cover?

“I have been inundated with hundreds of my constituents.

“I am sure it is the same for other MLAs, teachers’ unions are appalled at your actions.”

However, Givan said he “absolutely” feels like an ‘education minister for all’.

“People will point out process points, should I have done this and should I have done that, actually at it’s core what this is about is an anti-Israeli perspective from those who are being critical, it is the only Jewish nation in this world, they have nowhere else to go,” the minister said.

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party have said they plan to join Givan’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in voting against it.

Even if it were to pass, the motion has no power to remove a DUP minister from office without the support of its leader, Gavin Robinson, who has said Givan is “going nowhere”.

Alliance assembly members (MLAs) are due to meet on Monday morning to decide if they will be supporting the no confidence motion.

Givan is likely to face questions in the chamber about the Israeli trip as some parties are planning to ask for an urgent oral question to be added to the order paper.

In a Facebook post over the weekend, the minister said he has been “vilified by those who have sought to call into question my character and commitment to the people of Northern Ireland”.

He added: “Sinn Féin, People Before Profit, the SDLP and Alliance are fooling no one. We can all see right through this smokescreen.”

It is a big step to propose and support a motion of no confidence in a Stormont minister, even though it is destined to fail.

Unlike in most other government institutions, ministers do not need the support of the majority of Northern Ireland Assembly members to stay in office.

All they need is their own party to stand by them.

But such motions of confidence are potentially damaging for relations and can hamper progress around the executive table at a time when there are so many big decisions to be made.

Don’t be surprised to see more ministerial showdowns in the months ahead as we edge ever closer to the next assembly election.

Because, in truth, they play well with the respective political bases.