Baroness Arlene Foster reportedly lined up as chair of new UK trade body set up under Safeguarding the Union deal

The story was reported by the BBC this morning, the News Letter has contacted Baroness Foster for comment.

Meanwhile, the SDLP have sought clarity from the Commissioner for Public Appointments on the process used to make the appointment.

Intertrade UK was set up under the Safeguarding the Union deal between the government and the DUP, which saw the return of the Stormont institutions after two years of DUP boycott.

The command paper says that the body’s role will be “to provide advice and facilitate businesses across the UK boosting internal trade, to promote the full extent of the UK’s market to businesses and traders, and to conduct and publish research or other activity designed to advance intra-UK trade”.

Baroness Foster was Northern Ireland’s economy minister for a number of years before becoming the youngest and the first female first minister. She was forced out of the role by her MLAs amid turbulence in the party over the Northern Ireland protocol.

A 2016 a joint letter from Arlene Foster and Martin McGuiness to Theresa May set out an agreed DUP and Sinn Fein position on keeping the border with the Republic of Ireland open. It said new arrangements should “retain as far as possible the ease with which we currently trade with EU member states” and welcomed a government commitment that the border would not “become an impediment to the movement of people, goods and services”.

That request was largely granted, with unfettered access for Northern Ireland to the EU goods market – and no restrictions on the movement of people. However, yesterday the current DUP leader Gavin Robinson raised concerns about the potential for a people border within the United Kingdom because of the Windsor Framework arrangements.

However, there remain significant barriers to trade with the rest of the UK, something Intertrade UK will attempt to smooth over as much as possible.

There is still no clarity on the budget or staffing that will be available to the body.

Anton Spizak, Associate Fellow at the Centre for European Reform, told a Lords committee last week that structures such as Intertrade UK have yet to be established. He also said that there are now over 30 bodies involved in the structures governing the Windsor Framework.

Bodies such as the East West Council or Intertrade UK, setup under the Safeguarding the Union deal, won’t affect the operation of the protocol.

SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan has written to the Commissioner for Public Appointments Sir William Shawcross following the media reports that Baroness Foster is to be appointed as chair of the body. Mr McCrossan said: “The SDLP expressed serious reservations about the content of the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper when it was published and despite the deafening silence of others, we continue to have serious problems with it.

“It is now being reported that a body created by this exclusive negotiation between the DUP and the British Government is to be chaired by a former DUP Leader, appointed by the British Government. Given the complex ecosystem of interests that exist in such an appointment, we have to be assured that it has been based on a competitive, open, transparent and merit-based process.

“I have written to the Commissioner for Public Appointments seeking clear assurances that such an appointment would meet the high standards contained in the principles for public appointments which govern these matters.”