Cabinet Office urges households to stockpile food and water for national emergencies
New resilience campaign aims to shift immediate crisis response burden to households, freeing government resources for the most vulnerable during extreme weather or hostile state attacks.
The UK Cabinet Office has launched a national resilience campaign advising citizens to stockpile tinned food and bottled water to prepare for potential national disasters. The initiative is designed to ensure households possess basic supplies and the knowledge to cope during crises, thereby allowing the government to direct immediate resources toward the most vulnerable populations.
Cabinet Office minister Louise Haigh, who serves as Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s de-facto deputy, is coordinating crisis planning across Whitehall departments. The goal is to facilitate swifter assistance to affected communities by establishing a clearer division of responsibility between the state and individual households.
The move follows a period of increased planning for various threats, including cyber-attacks, extreme heat, and flooding. The plans also incorporate an internal reassessment of government preparations for a military attack by a hostile state affecting Britain, reflecting a broader shift in institutional threat assessment.
Context for the campaign includes recent domestic and international incidents. Last week, hackers linked to Iran were blamed for a cyber-attack that temporarily shut down a small-scale British power plant. While the government stated there was no risk to the wider energy system, the incident marked an apparent escalation in the threat posed to UK infrastructure.
Internationally, tensions remain high following Prime Minister Burnham’s visit to Ukraine to announce the sharing of missile technology. Russian spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accused Britain of adding “fuel to the fire,” while Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, had previously warned that Russia could attack a NATO country within four years.
The Cabinet Office stated that safeguarding national security is the first priority of any government. It emphasised a commitment to raising awareness of simple steps households can take to become more resilient, alongside driving forward a home defence programme to build the country’s preparedness for various threats.
