A senior British cabinet minister had warned of the “disintegration” of the international rules-based system in the aftermath of the US capture of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, saying the instability poses a threat to Britain.
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, declined to criticise Donald Trump directly and said that the prime minister, Keir Starmer, did not have the “luxury of commentating” but suggested he was disturbed by the international picture, saying the rules-based order was “creaking at the seams”.
“I think what we’ve seen in Venezuela are morbid symptoms of the disintegration of the rules-based international system, and that is a real concern for the government and for Britain’s national interest, because a world without rules is a world in which we are less safe,” Streeting said.
The health secretary suggested in a separate interview that the abduction and indictment on drugs and weapons charges of Maduro was yet another sign that Europe needed to take more robust charge of its own intelligence and defence.
“How do we make sure that we are upholding European defence and security, including our own national security, at a time when the rules-based order has been disintegrating before our eyes? And let’s be clear about this, 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 disintegrating.”
Streeting defended Starmer’s decision to not make outright criticism of Trump’s actions.
“What the prime minister is doing and the foreign secretary is doing is weighing up what they say, how they say it and when they say it, because this is a delicate moment,” he said.
“And what the prime Minister’s considerations are is, first and foremost, UK interests and national security. Secondly, how do we make sure the people of Venezuela get the government they actually voted for, and the people of Venezuela get to choose their future, not anyone else.”
Maduro pleaded not guilty to drugs and weapons charges in New York on Monday amid uncertainty in Venezuela over its future leadership and any forthcoming elections.
Trump called the weekend attack on Venezuela a “brilliant operation” and has suggested it could be a blueprint for other countries in Latin America.
The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said the raid was “morally … the right thing to do” in an interview on the Today programme.
“As we all know, international law is what countries agree to. Once people decide they don’t agree, there is no international law. There’s no world police, no world government, no world court. These are agreements.
“And when we look at what the opposition leader, María Machado, said, she said Venezuela had already been invaded. It had been invaded by Russia, by Iran, by Hezbollah. Where were the people talking about international law then?”
