Wes Streeting warns of ‘disintegration’ of rules-based world order after Venezuela attack | US attack on Venezuela
A senior British cabinet minister has warned that the international rules-based system will “disintegrate” after the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and said instability posed a threat to Britain.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting refused to criticize Donald Trump directly and suggested Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not have the “luxury of comment” but was upset with the international picture, saying the rules-based order was “creaking at the seams”.
“I think what we’re seeing in Venezuela is sickly symptomatic of the disintegration of the rules-based international system, and that is a real concern for the government and for Britain’s national interests, because a world without rules is a world in which we are less safe,” Streeting said.
In a separate interview, the health minister suggested that Maduro’s kidnapping and drug and weapons charges were another sign that Europe needed to take more robust responsibility for its own intelligence and defense.
“How can we ensure that we support European defense and security, including our own national security, at a time when the rules-based order is disintegrating before our eyes? Let’s be clear, a world without rules is a world in which we are all less safe,” he told GB News.
“The UK supports the rules-based international system. We have seen it creaking at the seams, and now we see it falling apart.”
Streeting defended Starmer’s decision not to directly criticize Trump’s actions.
“What the prime minister and the foreign secretary do is weigh what they say, how they say it and when they say it, because this is a sensitive moment,” he said.
“The Prime Minister’s considerations are, first and foremost, the interests of the United Kingdom and national security. Secondly, how do we ensure that the Venezuelan people get the government they actually voted for, and that the Venezuelan people choose their future, not anyone else’s?”
Maduro pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges in New York on Monday amid uncertainty over Venezuela’s future leadership and upcoming elections.
Trump called the weekend attack on Venezuela a “great operation” and suggested it could be a blueprint for other countries in Latin America.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said in an interview on the Today programme that the crackdown was “morally the right thing to do”.
“As we all know, international law is what countries accept. When people decide to disagree, there is no such thing as international law. There is no world police, no world government, no world court. These are agreements.
“And when we look at what opposition leader María Machado said, she said Venezuela was already occupied. It was occupied by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. Where were people talking about international law then?”
