Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has advised households to stock up on water, tinned goods, battery-powered torches and radios ahead of what he described as a challenging winter. Speaking to the Liverpool ECHO, he highlighted the need for basic national resilience in the face of potential threats and severe weather.
Advice for Households
Mr Streeting was in Liverpool on Tuesday (November 3) as part of a UK-Netherlands defence engagement on board the Dutch naval ship HNLMS Johan de Witt, which docked at the city's cruise liner terminal. Asked what people in Merseyside should do to prepare for difficult times ahead, he said: "If we think about some of the challenges we have seen this year in terms of wild fires, or the challenges we are likely to see this year in terms of flooding, bad weather, all of those things can be addressed through a basic level of national resilience that if we are honest, we sometimes lack."
He added: "It is things like having spare supplies of water in your house, some tinned goods, battery powered torches and radios. All of these things help to build household resilience and national resilience."
Recent Threats and Attacks
The advice comes amid a series of incidents across Europe. Cyber attacks have forced supermarkets to discard millions of pounds worth of food after refrigerators and freezers were impacted. Additionally, a number of flights across Europe, including ones from London and Manchester, were suddenly grounded and searched after bomb threats were made affecting several routes and airlines on Tuesday.
State-Sponsored Terrorism Warning
Mr Streeting previously said people also need to prepare for the threat of "state-sponsored terrorism" by Russia or other hostile powers targeting everyday infrastructure. The government has recently suggested people should stock up on essentials in case of outages.
