Great Britain in distress? Premier Andy Burnham urges citizens to keep food, water and cash at home for 3 days; here’s what’s going on | Today’s news
The UK Government has launched a ‘Be Prepared’ campaign. She recently advised people to stock up on essentials such as food, water, cash and more at home for up to three days. This occurs amid adverse weather, cyber attacks, and threats from hostile states that are expected to disrupt essential services.
Why Prime Minister Andy Burnham urged people to stock up on food, water and cash
It is part of the government’s “Be Prepared” campaign. It supposedly aims to handle emergency situations for people. Such a crisis is likely to disrupt electricity, communications, transport and access to other essential services.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham shared the guidelines. He urged people to take precautions instead of panic buying. “It seems that unexpected events are becoming more frequent,” Burnham was quoted as saying by the BBC.
What the government said
The government has recommended that households keep a three-day supply of bottled water and canned food to deal with extreme situations such as war, an online attack or a natural disaster.
Burnham: “It’s not about panicking… It’s just about taking reasonable precautions to have enough in the house to comfort you if a difficult situation arises.”
The campaign comes after recent storms reportedly left homes without power. There has also recently been a major cyber security incident involving vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language used by millions of websites around the world.
What to keep
Households are advised to keep enough emergency supplies for at least 72 hours. This includes nine liters of drinking water per person for three days, along with additional water for cooking and washing. Other essential supplies should include canned meat and vegetables, supplies of dry food, dried fruit, and other non-perishable foods, along with a flashlight with spare batteries and a battery-operated or wind-up FM radio for emergency updates; blankets, sleeping bags, warm clothes, a first aid kit and basic medicines. Households should also keep hand sanitizer, wet wipes, toiletries, a charged power bank, cash, payment cards, copies of important documents and a written list of emergency contacts. Families with babies should stock up on basic supplies, while pet owners should keep food and water for their animals.
Cyber security threats
Cybersecurity is said to be a concern behind the government’s campaign, especially after vulnerabilities in PHP prompted organizations to review their systems, disrupted some services and launched large-scale hacking attempts, according to a Money Control report.
Britain’s National Cyber Security Center has sent 50,000 alerts to organizations affected by the problem. Defense Secretary Wes Streeting has warned that cyber incidents could become more common amid the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. He also warned of threats from enemy states, organized criminals and climate change.
Last month, the National Audit Office warned that cyber-attacks and the climate crisis posed a growing threat to the country’s food chain. The chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, which represents temperature-controlled food companies, told the BBC that Russian cyber hackers were targeting the UK and knew where the food delivery system was vulnerable.
Storms, wildfires, drought and more
The nation was further affected by severe weather. Storm Goretti, which struck earlier this year in January, left tens of thousands of homes without power in parts of the Midlands, south-west England and Wales, with winds reaching almost 100mph, The Guardian reports. Great Britain also experienced heat, drought and bushfires in the summer.
Not just the UK, but the European Commission issued similar guidance last year, encouraging people across the region to have a 72-hour emergency kit containing essentials such as food, water, cash and energy banks.
