Politics · United Kingdom · 8 hrs ago
Streeting urges UK households to prepare for emergencies and hostile acts
Wes Streeting says the UK must prepare for emergencies and hostile acts that could disrupt everyday services.
The government’s “Be Ready” campaign asks households to keep enough supplies to manage for three days, including food, water, a torch and first-aid items.
The advice also covers natural hazards such as severe weather and flooding, as well as cyber-attacks that could disrupt payments or supply chains.
The aim is to help households cope during outages and allow emergency services to focus on people who need more support.
The campaign follows warnings that Britain’s food supply chain is vulnerable to disease, cyber-attacks and extreme weather, and that households are less prepared than those in some other countries.
The government is asking households and businesses to consider how they would respond; the sources give no further timetable for the campaign.
Wes Streeting said the UK should prepare for hostile states targeting infrastructure and causing disruption.
He urged households and businesses to consider how they would respond to emergencies, including cyber-attacks and supply-chain disruption.
Streeting described the threat as “state-sponsored terrorism” and said it was real and increasingly present in the UK.
The government’s “Be Ready” campaign advises households to keep supplies to last three days.
- Who
- Defence Secretary Wes Streeting urged the public to prepare. The government’s “Be Ready” campaign also offers household advice.
- What
- Streeting called for preparation against hostile acts targeting infrastructure and other emergencies.
- When
- Streeting spoke on Thursday, 22 October 2026.
- Where
- He was speaking at a tank gun barrel factory in Telford, West Midlands.
- Why
- He said hostile powers could target everyday infrastructure and cause disruption, including through cyber-attacks.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The government indicated that UK citizens would be told to stock up on tinned food and take other steps to prepare for national emergencies.
Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said El Niño would lead to more extreme storms in the UK and urged households to stock up on food.
Streeting called for households and businesses to prepare for hostile acts and other emergencies while speaking in Telford.
- Campaign
- Be Ready
- Household supplies
- The campaign advises keeping supplies for three days
- Speaking location
- A tank gun barrel factory in Telford, West Midlands
- Factory owner
- Rheinmetall, a German manufacturer
- Defence spending target
- 3.5% of GDP in next year’s spending review
3 sources
Nanny Burnham won't spend more on defence but is wasting a fortune lecturing us on stockpiling tins, water, loo roll and a wind-up radio in case of a national emergency
UK needs to be ready for emergencies and hostile acts, warns Streeting
UK must prepare for infrastructure attacks by hostile states, says Streeting
What people are saying
not hypothetical but real, and not somewhere else but increasingly here
It’s really important that we ask households and businesses, are they prepared? Are they ready? Do they know how they would respond in the event of everyday challenges that might manifest themselves?
improve our resilience as a nation