Government campaign urges households to store food and water
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The Government is preparing a "national resilience campaign" urging households to keep tinned food and bottled water on hand, as ministers step up planning for extreme weather, cyber attacks and hostile state action. The drive, coordinated across Whitehall by First Secretary of State Louise Haigh, is being framed by officials as "common sense, not scaremongering," and forms part of a wider Home Defence Programme that includes an update to the government's "war book" for major incidents and the largest home defence exercise in decades planned for next year.
The campaign follows a run of incidents that have sharpened concerns about Britain's preparedness: severe mobile phone alerts were issued over wildfire risk, hackers linked to Iran shut down a UK power plant, and Russia was accused of "outrageous threats" after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that closer UK-Ukraine military cooperation was adding "fuel to the fire" of the conflict. The Cabinet Office said safeguarding national security remained the government's top priority, while critics questioned aspects of the alert system, including its risks for domestic abuse survivors with hidden phones.
- Government to urge stockpiling tinned food and water for emergencies
- Move follows Iran-linked cyber attack on UK power plant, Russian threats
- Part of wider Home Defence Programme and "war book" update
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Iran-linked hackers reportedly disabled a UK power plant last month, and the Kremlin has accused Britain of stoking the Ukraine conflict through its military support for Kyiv, as ministers warn Russia could strike a NATO member within four years. These incidents form the backdrop to a planned government drive urging people to keep basic supplies at home, such as tinned food and water, in case of a serious disruption. The campaign is being pulled together by Louise Haigh, the First Secretary of State, working across several government departments.
Officials say the advice will cover a range of possible risks, from extreme weather to cyber attacks and hostile action by other states, and insist it is meant as sensible precaution rather than an alarming warning. It comes shortly after a separate decision by mayor Andy Burnham to send a loud phone alert about wildfire risk in England and Wales, which drew criticism from domestic abuse charities concerned about people hiding phones for safety reasons. The government is also reviewing its official plans for responding to major threats and preparing a large-scale home defence exercise for next year.
This matters because it reflects a broader shift in how the UK is talking about preparedness, moving from reassurance towards more visible planning for disruption, whether from natural events, cyber incidents or state-backed threats. The scale and tone of the campaign, and how the public responds to it, will likely shape debate over whether such measures are proportionate or overstated.
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The case for
Advocates argue that encouraging households to keep basic supplies is sensible, low-cost preparedness rather than alarmism, pointing to real vulnerabilities exposed by wildfires, power-grid hacks and ageing infrastructure. They see it as responsible governance to normalise resilience the way other countries already do, empowering citizens to cope with short-term disruption without waiting for the state to intervene. Framing the advice as common sense, they argue, builds public confidence and reduces panic when genuine emergencies occur, rather than leaving people caught out.
The case against
Sceptics worry that a national campaign urging people to stockpile tinned food and water risks stoking unnecessary anxiety and signalling that the Government expects imminent crisis, even if officials insist otherwise. They argue that such messaging could distract from the more pressing task of actually shoring up energy, water and cyber infrastructure, effectively shifting responsibility for state resilience onto individual households. Some also question whether the timing and scale of the campaign, alongside war-book updates and defence exercises, reflects proportionate caution or overstates threats in ways that erode public trust.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Britons will be urged to stock up on tinned food and bottled water in new ‘national resilience campaign’ by Government to prepare for risk of extreme weather or cyber attacks”.