Supermarkets today urged against panic buying as the Government launched a ‘preppers’ website warning families to gather an ’emergency kit’ of tinned food, batteries and bottled water for use in a crisis.
Oliver Dowden will today advise people to make contingency plans for dealing with potential emergencies to help build ‘national resilience’ and ease pressure on emergency services.
The Deputy Prime Minister wants to encourage families to stock up with enough food and water to survive for three days without leaving their homes in the event of an emergency like a flood.
Whitehall sources insisted that the plan was not designed to create a nation of US-style survivalists. One said Mr Dowden’s intervention was not meant to be ‘alarmist’ and was simply ‘common sense’ advice.
And retailers warned shoppers to take time building their supplies instead of resorting to Covid-style panic buying, which saw shelves cleared of essentials toilet paper and pasta.
A MailOnline graphic illustrating everything you need in your emergency survival kit, according to the government website
Retailers have urged people not to panic buy in response to government advice to stockpile certain items at home. Pictured are empty shelves during the Covid pandemic
A Tesco in London pictured in March 2020 after it had been stripped of pasta, pasta sauces, rice and other staples
Andrew Opie, Director of Food & Sustainability at the BRC, told MailOnline: ‘Retailers did an excellent job ensuring the country had access to food and other necessities throughout the pandemic, and we are confident they will rise to future challenges.
‘While it is sensible to have some additional food at home, most households will find they already have sufficient non-perishables sitting in the cupboard.’
Ministers believe preparations by individual households will help take pressure off the emergency services when dealing with a crisis.
The most common risk to people according to the government’s risk register is flooding, causing power and water outages.
Other threats that people should prepare for include a pandemic, a cyberattack, disruption to space systems that affect GPS signals, or in extreme cases a nuclear attack.
The website, prepare.campaign.gov.uk, aims to make sure people are aware of the risks in their local area so they can plan appropriately.
As per the advice, households should put together emergency kits at home.
Last year, Mr Dowden said people should stock up on ‘analogue capabilities’, such as candles, torches and wind-up radios, to boost their ‘personal resilience’.
He has been inspired by similar preparations in countries such as Finland, which operates a ’72-hour concept’ for coping in situations where ‘society’s services are disrupted or even discontinued’.
Finns are encouraged to stockpile food and water and to be prepared to ‘shelter indoors’ by taping up gaps in windows and ‘waiting calmly for instructions’ on the radio.
Mr Dowden has previously introduced an ’emergency alert’ system, which allows authorities to trigger an alarm on millions of mobile phones to inform people of a potential crisis.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden (pictured) will advise people to buy a list of essential items to keep at home
While the ‘prepping’ movement is bigger in the US, some Brits have got onboard. Pictured here is Newquay businessman Lincoln Miles at his shop selling emergency supplies last year
The Prime Minister warned last week that Britain had ‘some of its most dangerous years’ ahead and was at a security ‘crossroads’.
Describing the threats on the rise, Rishi Sunak highlighted a new axis of anti-western states including China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
Among other challenges were rising immigration and artificial intelligence.
A similar public information campaign was launched by the government in 2004, advising British citizens on what to do in the event of a natural disaster, an accident or an act of terrorism.
It began in the wake of several major disasters, including the Madrid train bombings of 2004, SARS and the 2001 UK foot and mouth crisis.
The campaign was mocked with a satirical website, preparingforemergencies.co.uk, which was created by University of York student Tom Scott.
The Home Office originally objected to the website, but eventually conceded on the issue and it was allowed to remain.
While British ministers believe it is wise for people to take precautions, they will be keen to avoid imitations of the elaborate preparations for ‘doomsday’ scenarios made by US survivalists.
One of the risks Mr Dowden will warn about is flooding. Pictured is a flooded pub earlier this year in Croscombe, Somerset
Health crises like the Covid pandemic are another example of the threats faced by Britain. Pictured is a woman wearing a mask on the Tube in 2020
Rowan MacKenzie, from Missouri, recently hit the headlines after revealing she spent over $90,000 on her hidden bunker stockpile.
The 38-year-old began stocking up her cupboards 13 years ago and initially, bought lifelong essentials, such as beans and rice, which she taught herself to preserve through trial and error.
She said: ‘I’ve always said that if you didn’t help build it, then hard decisions will have to be made.
‘My door won’t be open to anyone, family or not, as I’ve prepared for my own home. I feel bad, but hard times call for hard knocks – and a harsh reality.’
As her stock grew, the homemaker spent more than $10,000 on having the underground space built into the basement of her home, where she keeps food and water, as well as weapons.
Rowan MacKenzie, a 38-year-old from Missouri, has been prepping her home for disaster for the last 13 years
Ms MacKenzie’s doomsday bunker, which contains water, non-perishable food supplies and weapons
Jars of dried food in ‘prepper farmstead’ owned by Allison and Joe Michael in Idaho, USA