Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has urged the public and businesses to enhance their preparedness for a range of emerging risks, including natural disasters, sophisticated cyber attacks, and state-sponsored terrorism. Speaking at the UK Gun Hall Plant in Telford, Streeting emphasized the need for greater awareness and planning to cope with potential disruptions.

The government is launching a national resilience conversation to highlight these threats and provide practical advice. This initiative aims to encourage households to stock up on essential supplies, such as food, bottled water, and first aid kits, to help them withstand emergencies that could impact everyday services.

Streeting pointed to recent events like wildfires and anticipated winter flooding as examples of climate-related challenges. He also warned of increasingly advanced cyber threats targeting businesses and supply chains, potentially orchestrated by hostile state actors or terrorists. The Defence Secretary questioned how the nation would manage if critical systems, such as supermarket payment networks, were compromised, stressing the importance of public readiness.

The initiative seeks to bolster the UK's resilience against severe weather events and cyber-attacks, which could lead to widespread outages of essential services including water, sewage, telephone, and internet access. The "Be Ready" campaign specifically advises households to prepare a three-day survival kit.

This kit should include non-perishable food, bottled water, a torch, sleeping bags, and first aid supplies. Additionally, it recommends having an FM radio for receiving updates during power outages and noting down the frequencies of trusted national or local news stations.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis MP stated that this advice will enable emergency services to better focus on individuals requiring the most assistance during crises, thereby strengthening national resilience. He noted that similar preparedness campaigns are already a common practice in several European countries.

The call for preparedness follows warnings from Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle regarding the impact of the El Niño phenomenon, which is expected to cause more extreme storms in the UK. She also advised households to stockpile food for increased resilience.

Recent analysis by the National Audit Office (NAO) highlighted vulnerabilities in the UK's food supply chain, citing risks from disease outbreaks, cyber-attacks, and extreme weather. The NAO report indicated that the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) had not sufficiently addressed supply chain resilience in recent years, and that UK households are less prepared for emergencies compared to those in countries like Finland and Sweden.