Streeting urges households and businesses to prepare for emergencies

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has said members of the public and businesses need to think more about how they would cope with natural disasters, cyber attacks or state-sponsored terrorism, meaning attacks carried out on behalf of a foreign state.

Mr Streeting said people needed to be more aware of emerging risks facing the UK and to make plans to deal with them. The government is launching what it calls a "national resilience conversation", a drive to raise awareness of emergencies. As part of it, households are being advised to stock up on food, bottled water and first aid supplies.

The government's existing "Be Ready" campaign encourages households to keep enough supplies to last three days. These include non-perishable food (food that keeps without a fridge), bottled water, a torch, sleeping bags and first aid items. Sky News reported that the campaign names extreme weather and cyber attacks among the emergencies people should prepare for, and that it offers a downloadable checklist of what to stock or prepare.

On the wider threats, Mr Streeting said the public needed to be ready for increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks on businesses. He also pointed to supply chain disruption, meaning interruption to the networks that move goods and materials, caused by hostile states or terrorists. The Guardian reported that he said Britain should prepare for attacks on infrastructure by hostile states.

Mr Streeting's remarks were reported on 22 October 2026. The BBC carried his comments on the national resilience conversation and the household advice.