John Healey, now chancellor, is in talks with Canada about the UK joining a new multilateral defence bank, weeks after his predecessor Rachel Reeves rejected the idea. Britain has been formally invited to become a founding member of the Canada-led defence, security and resilience bank (DSRB), which backers say could help fund defence projects more cheaply, marking a potential shift in UK policy amid pressure to boost military spending.

Healey, who resigned as defence secretary in June over a shortfall in defence spending, previously pushed to keep UK observers in the bank's talks despite Treasury resistance; Reeves had worried it would not fix UK procurement problems and was geared towards lending to smaller firms in lower-credit-rated countries. He has met Canadian finance minister François-Philippe Champagne twice recently and they are expected to discuss the DSRB again this week. The UK's contribution would likely be £1bn-£2bn over three years, while the bank aims to raise around €100bn. This sits alongside the UK's existing commitment of £600m to a rival scheme, the Multilateral Defence Mechanism, launched with the Netherlands, Finland and Poland, which Reeves had wanted merged with the DSRB.