Streeting warns of food shortages
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The gist
UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting urged households to stock three days of food and water for supply disruption.
The advice is part of a national resilience push critics call lecturing.
Background
Wes Streeting is the UK Defence Secretary. He spoke at the opening of Rheinmetall UK's Gun Hall plant in Telford, Shropshire, where tank gun barrels are to be produced in the UK for the first time in 20 years, and used the occasion to warn of disruption from cyber attacks, state-sponsored terrorism or natural disasters. The government launched the "Be Ready" campaign, the first stage of a three-year effort advising households to keep three days' worth of bottled water and non-perishable food, a battery or wind-up FM radio, cash, a torch, sleeping bags and first aid items. The launch came hours after a large-scale cyber-security issue forced websites and dozens of government services offline, and follows similar campaigns in France, Ireland and the Netherlands.
How it unfolded
- Oct 22, 2026Speaking at the Rheinmetall UK Gun Hall plant opening in Telford, Streeting warned households and businesses to prepare for supply chain disruption from cyber attacks, state-sponsored terrorism or natural disasters.
- Oct 22, 2026The government launched the "Be Ready" campaign, the first stage of a three-year campaign advising households to stock three days' worth of bottled water and non-perishable food, a radio, cash, a torch, sleeping bags and first aid items.
- Oct 22, 2026Streeting told BBC One's Question Time there was no "specific thing" in mind, calling the advice a matter of "everyday national resilience".
- Oct 22, 2026The launch came hours after a large-scale cyber-security issue forced websites and dozens of government services offline.
- Oct 23, 2026Streeting's warning was reported as Britons needing to prepare for food shortages if "state-sponsored terrorism" disrupts everyday life, with a checklist including at least three litres of drinking water per person per day.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Streeting said people should be "alert but not alarmed" and that cyber incidents will happen "more and more"; Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the advice will help emergency services prioritise those who need more support.
- Support
- Shadow foreign secretary Tom Tugendhat called it "a perfectly reasonable thing to ask people" to have provisions in place for several days.
- Caution
- Shadow national security minister Alicia Kearns called the move "lecturing the public", saying the government should get its own house in order first.
- Expert
- Professor Harry Pitts of the University of Exeter said defence and resilience plans should be "led from Downing Street downwards".
Still unverified
An audience member put to Streeting that the advice could be "scaremongering" and push people towards panic buying as during the Covid-19 pandemic; Streeting responded that they want people "alert but not alarmed".