Government defends Be Ready campaign as shoppers stock up on essentials

The government has launched a three-year Be Ready campaign urging households in the UK to keep enough supplies to survive for 72 hours in an emergency. The updated advice, published on a government website, says people should think about what they would need if power, payment systems, phones or supermarket supply chains were disrupted.

It asks households to store three litres of water per person per day, non-perishable food, medicines and first aid supplies. It also recommends a torch with batteries, a wind-up or battery-powered FM radio, a charged power bank and some cash. Households with babies are told to keep ready-made formula and nappies, because boiling water to make powdered formula may not be possible. Pet owners are told to store pet food. The checklist also covers hygiene products, blankets and sleeping bags, and written-down important phone numbers. Those eligible are urged to join the priority services register.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting set out the campaign during a visit to Telford. He said the threats were not hypothetical and not only somewhere else. He pointed to cyber attacks, state-sponsored terrorism and disruption to supply chains or supermarket payment systems. He said the phrase state-sponsored terrorism described the threat better than terms such as hybrid warfare. Streeting also said there was no specific intelligence of an imminent attack. He said the government was trying to bring the UK into line with European countries and to start a national resilience conversation. The campaign had been expected earlier, and some reporters noted it was published quietly with no minister scheduled to front it.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham defended the advice while hosting a wildfire resilience summit. He said the campaign was not about panicking but about sensible preparation. He said unexpected events were becoming more common and pointed to storms and power cuts in Cornwall. The government denied scaremongering. Ministers said the aim was to make people alert rather than alarmed. A security minister said the recent extreme weather showed why the campaign was needed. Critics, including some newspapers, accused ministers of lecturing families and spreading fear. The government said the advice was not tied to a single event.

The campaign has prompted a sharp rise in sales of some items. Retailers reported higher demand for radios, torches, power banks and tinned food. Robert Dyas said radio sales rose by 160% in a week. Maplin said torch sales rose by 284% and power bank sales by 106%. Iceland reported a 40% rise in sales of tinned goods over the weekend. The online Preppers Shop UK said demand rose around 650%, wind-up radios sold out and it had its biggest days in 13 years of trading. Some shoppers said they would buy a few extra items, while others said cost or lack of space meant they would not stockpile. Preppers said the advice was a starting point and that many UK preppers keep about 30 days of supplies.

The wildfire summit also produced new measures. The government promised better protective equipment for firefighters and said RAF planes and helicopters would be adapted to help fight wildfires. The advice came during a week of storms and cyber disruption. A flaw in widely used PHP code took websites offline, and Storm Austin left thousands of homes without power in Cornwall. Ministers and experts said the UK had lagged behind countries such as Finland and Sweden on public resilience. Some analysts said individual stockpiling was not enough and that supply chains, national stockpiles and public services also needed investment. The government said it was increasing defence spending and would set out more in the Budget and spending review.

Public figures gave mixed examples of what they would store. Angela Rayner listed mascara, concealer and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. A Conservative figure mentioned Percy Pigs and a Mars bar. Streeting said a bottle of wine was not the best first port of call in a crisis. The official checklist remains the same: water, food, medicine, light, communication and cash for three days.