Canada's global defence bank initiative
UK Chancellor John Healey is weighing whether to join the Canada-led Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), a multilateral institution -- already backed by Albania, Bulgaria, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine -- meant to let member governments borrow more cheaply to fund defence spending, reversing course after his predecessor Rachel Reeves had rejected the idea; Treasury officials said no decision has been made, and membership for the UK and other G7 states would carry an upfront cost of around £870m spread over three years. As defence secretary, Healey had privately pushed for UK membership before resigning in June over what he called the Treasury's unwillingness to fund defence adequately, citing 'credible ways' to raise money including working multinationally. The talks come as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visits the UK -- after Prime Minister Andy Burnham cancelled a planned meeting with Canada's Mark Carney following his father's death -- to warn that NATO will 'not be intimidated by Russia's campaign of hostile actions,' following a NATO shoot-down of a drone over Lithuania and Denmark's accusation that a Russian warship fired flares at one of its helicopters in the Baltic Sea.
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18 September 2026
17 September 2026
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