𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The checklist includes items such as bottled water, non-perishable food, a battery or wind-up FM radio to receive updates during outages and cash in case electronic payments or cash machines are disrupted. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting defended the move against accusations of “scaremongering” on last night’s BBC Question Time.

He said: “We did have this debate though, just to reassure… because we want people to be alert but not alarmed, and the truth is we looked around the rest of Europe, ‘what are our friends doing across the continent?’. They are way ahead of us on some of this stuff.”

Tory shadow national security minister Alicia Kearns said the measure was “lecturing the public”.

She said: “Preparing for emergencies is important. But the Government should get its own house in order before lecturing the public. It isn’t families that are failing to fund our defence or secure reliable energy – it’s Labour.

“With rising threats to our national security, we must all be ready to face all eventualities. We each have a role to play, but the Government must lead by example.”

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Reform UK MP Danny Kruger added: “Ministers should be doing their job not telling families how to do theirs. Government needs to urgently invest in defence to deter aggressors and harden the target.

“With our undersea cables, our military bases and our civilian infrastructure all exposed to Russian or Iranian attack – and all our digital systems exposed to hackers from anywhere in the world – the need for a major uplift in defence spending at next week’s Budget is critical.

“Meanwhile ordinary people need help with the cost of living – not bossy lectures about bottled water.”