Families are being urged to buy a battery or wind-up radio to prepare in case war ever breaks out on UK soil, or other mass disruptions such as a future pandemic, internet outages or extreme weather conditions.
The advice comes as part of the UK Prepare website, which the Government runs to help the country prepare for potential national disruptions, including war, bad weather and cyber attacks. Households are told to buy battery or wind-up radios because a radio that does not need power from the National Grid, which may be disrupted, could be used to disseminate emergency information to families in a crisis.
Government security strategy
In a new security strategy published in June, ministers said the UK now finds itself in “an era in which we face confrontation with those who are threatening our security”. The strategy stated: “Some adversaries are laying the foundations for future conflict, positioning themselves to move quickly to cause major disruption to our energy and or supply chains, to deter us from standing up to their aggression. For the first time in many years, we have to actively prepare for the possibility of the UK homeland coming under direct threat, potentially in a wartime scenario.”
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham was warned that the UK faces an “inevitable” Russian attack on its defence and security in retaliation for continuing support for Ukraine. Security chiefs were on high alert on Tuesday night for a possible Russian strike, either against the Prime Minister himself or key military sites, after Mr Burnham’s visit to Kyiv and his decision to deepen military co-operation with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Household preparedness advice
As part of its list of advice for households, the UK Prepare site urges families to get a battery or wind-up torch, as well as a portable power bank to charge your phone and spare AA batteries. The guidance also urges people to get bottled water, tinned food and, if applicable, baby supplies.
The advice says: “Battery or wind-up radios to get updates during a power cut – a car radio can be used, however, in severe weather it might be safer to stay inside.”
The government advice adds: “Consider what supplies you and your household might need during an emergency lasting a few days, such as a power cut or water outage, or situations where you are advised to stay at home or to leave your home (evacuate) for safety reasons.
“It can be helpful to keep these items in one place in your home and ideally somewhere easy to find if the lights aren’t working – if you are escaping your house due to a fire, you should not take anything with you at all. You could consider keeping items you might need to take with you if asked to leave your home quickly in a spare bag – you might hear some people call this a ‘grab bag’.”
Generally, ministers are stepping up calls for the whole of society to become more resilient and plan to carry out a cross-government exercise on how to deal with crises.
