Britons will be urged by the Government to stock up on tinned food and bottled water under a new national resilience campaign to prepare for severe emergencies.
The public information drive aims to encourage households to prepare for major disruption caused by events such as extreme weather, cyber attacks, or hostile state action. The national resilience campaign will highlight simple steps families can take to keep safe during a crisis where power or water supplies are taken out or shops are forced to close.
A Government official told the Financial Times that the initiative will provide practical advice on domestic readiness. "There will be practical advice on things you can do to improve domestic resilience, like having some bottled water and tinned food," the official said, but insisted: "It will be common sense, not scaremongering."
The Financial Times is a British daily newspaper focused on international business and financial news. A spokesman for the Cabinet Office, the government department responsible for supporting the UK Prime Minister and Cabinet, emphasised the government focus on national safety.
"Safeguarding national security is the first priority of any government," the Cabinet Office spokesman said. "We're committed to raising awareness of simple steps households can take to make themselves more resilient, as well as driving forward the Home Defence Programme to build our country's preparedness for various threats."
National defence exercises and threat response
Ministers are also stepping up work on national security by updating the so-called "war book" that sets out how departments respond to major threats. MPs were told last month that the biggest home defence exercise in decades will take place next year "to ensure that should the worst ever happen, we will always be ready."
The heightened security efforts come amid recent disruption to energy infrastructure. It emerged at the weekend that hackers linked to Iran managed to shut down a power plant in the UK last month.
Emergency phone alerts controversy
The drive follows recent emergency mobile broadcasts. Earlier this month, Andy Burnham ordered loud emergency alerts to be sent to all mobile phones in England and Wales, warning of the danger posed by wildfires.
The Government sent a "severe alert" to all mobile phones regarding the wildfire risk. Downing Street insisted the move was "entirely appropriate," but critics said the system should be reserved for more urgent threats to life such as terror attacks.
