The UK Government is preparing to launch a national resilience campaign urging households to keep basic supplies of food, water and medicine at home in preparation for major emergencies, including potential cyberattacks and disruption to critical infrastructure.
The campaign, expected to launch later this year, will encourage people to take practical steps to remain self-sufficient during emergencies that could disrupt electricity, water supplies, transport or communications.
According to a report by Financial Times, households will be encouraged to keep essential supplies and basic survival equipment, including non-perishable food, medicines and wind-up radios. The move comes as the UK Government steps up preparations for potential hybrid attacks and other national emergencies.
Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones recently announced plans for what the government described as the largest national home-defence exercise since the Cold War.
The multi-day exercise, known as Operation Albiston Shadow, is expected to involve government ministers and hundreds of civil servants testing their response to a hypothetical hybrid attack by a foreign adversary.
Such an attack could include cyberattacks and sabotage targeting critical infrastructure such as transport networks, the electricity grid and undersea communications cables.
UK Tests Wartime Preparedness
The government has also conducted a separate preparedness exercise involving around 120 experts from the NHS, Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Office.
Known as Exercise Tucana, the simulation reportedly examined the government’s response to a scenario in which Russia launched missile strikes against hospitals and disrupted traffic-light systems in London.
The exercise identified significant weaknesses in the UK’s ability to move and repatriate large numbers of injured people into the healthcare system. It also highlighted gaps in specialist workforce registers, limited surge capacity in critical healthcare areas and the absence of a central civil-defence coordinating body.
Public Urged to Prepare for 72-hour Disruptions
The planned public awareness campaign will encourage households to take what the government describes as small but important steps to prepare for emergencies and disruption. The guidance is expected to promote keeping enough essential supplies to cope for at least three days if basic services are temporarily unavailable.
Recommended items include drinking water, non-perishable food, essential medicines, a first-aid kit, a torch, a portable phone charger and a radio that can operate without mains electricity. Schools and colleges are also expected to receive new guidance on helping children understand how to stay safe during emergencies. The government has however stressed that its emergency exercises are not predictions that war or another specific crisis will occur.
A UK Government spokesperson said the exercises are designed to test responses to challenging worst-case scenarios and assess the country’s preparedness.
The renewed focus on household resilience comes amid growing concern across Europe about cyberattacks, sabotage, extreme weather and other threats capable of disrupting essential infrastructure.
