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25th May 2024
10:23am BST
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is urging the British public to 'prepare for an emergency' by stocking up on essential items.
A website has appeared online in recent days called prepare.campaign.gov.uk, which outlines a list of precautions that people should take in order to help them "prepare for emergencies, be more informed about hazards, and get involved in activities to support yourself and your community before, during and after an emergency."
The site calls on households to stock up on bottled water, with a minimum supply of three litres of drinking water per person per day, but says 10 litres is recommended for more comfortable levels, for cooking and hygiene.
The emergency kit also includes wind-up torches, radios, a first aid kit, tinned meat, and baby supplies and pet food if needed.
The potential emergencies mentioned include biosecurity crises, flooding, power outages or another pandemic.
Mr Dowden says the measures are "about sensible safeguards, not stockpiling" and the website is there to offer "practical information for households to make those preparations" for threats listed on the government's national risk register.
According to Sky News, the new website is part of the "largest overhaul of resilience in decades", which will also involve new training for MPs and a new programme to model what would happen in another pandemic.
It will see thousands of people taking part in a tier one pandemic exercise next summer.
Many people have been reacting to the strange new protocol on Reddit, with several not appearing to be taking the warning seriously.
One person made reference to the 2004 film Shaun of the Dead by writing: "I'd go down the Winchester and wait for it all to blow over."
Another person criticised what they saw as fearmongering from the government. They wrote: "Fear porn, yet again. I bet people felt stupid when they realised they couldn’t eat a year’s supply of toilet rolls during Covid."
One user saw it as something to be considered seriously, and advice that could be beneficial to everybody.
"I know people are up in arms about this, but it's sensible," they wrote.
"We grew up out in the middle of nowhere, so it wasn't unusual for electricity to go out for days at a time or for roads to be flooded or snowed under, and travel dangerous. I don't think it's stupid to have a few days of essentials and some candles just in case. It's like having a spare tyre…you don't need it, until you do."
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