Wes Streeting warns rules-based world order is disintegrating after Venezuela incident

Wes Streeting said the capture of Nicolás Maduro shows the rules-based international system is disintegrating and that the resulting instability threatens UK national security.

Wes Streeting, the UK health secretary, warned that recent events around the capture of Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro indicate a disintegration of the rules-based international system. He said this instability is a concern for the British government because a world without agreed rules would make the country less safe. Streeting declined to criticise Donald Trump directly and said Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the foreign secretary were weighing how and when to comment. He also suggested Europe should take greater responsibility for its own intelligence and defence amid the changing international picture. Key points: - Streeting described the capture and indictment of Nicolás Maduro as signs of a disintegrating rules-based order that threaten UK national interest. - He declined to directly criticise former US president Donald Trump and defended the prime minister's cautious approach to public comment. - Streeting told GB News that Europe should bolster its intelligence and defence to uphold European and national security. - Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty to drugs and weapons charges in New York; the next legal or procedural steps were not specified in the reporting. Summary: Streeting framed the Maduro operation as evidence of strain in the international rules-based system and said this destabilisation poses risks to UK security. Undetermined at this time.