Prepare for ‘disruption’, government says

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwd094x57p32o

Members of the public and businesses need to think more about how they would cope with natural disasters, cyber attacks or state-sponsored terrorism, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting says.
Streeting warned people needed to be more aware of emerging risks facing the UK and make plans to deal with them.
He added that the government was launching a "national resilience conversation" to raise awareness, including advice for households like stocking up on food, bottled water and first aid supplies.

This has been drip-fed into the media over months now, though this is perhaps the most frank a senior government minister has yet been on the issue. It is pretty obvious that the government believes that a massive attack on national infrastructure is a matter of when, rather than if, in the medium term. We also know that our national ability to stockpile natural gas has been compromised by years of poor strategic decision making, and that there is precious little slack in our power generating infrastructure for the same reasons.

There are too many ways in which things can now go wrong, with more powerful storms influenced by climate change, the increasing likelihood of a rogue AI causing havoc, or a direct attack on national infrastructure by a hostile state (Iran, or Russia, or both), exacerbated by the lack of resilience in many areas thanks to years of government complacency and poor planning.

So … who’s prepping? And what are you keeping in your garage or shed for when the zombie apocalypse rises?

[thenry]

I've never brought toilet roll in my life. It amazed me what COVID dealt peoples behaviour. Anyway I was taught to wash my bottom at an early age. I'd rather keep my heating on with that money!

One wise man said someone was gambling with wwiii once. Sorry to have no sympathy. Wise man is buying diesel from the opponent now

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Chris

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwd094x57p32o



This has been drip-fed into the media over months now, though this is perhaps the most frank a senior government minister has yet been on the issue. It is pretty obvious that the government believes that a massive attack on national infrastructure is a matter of when, rather than if, in the medium term. We also know that our national ability to stockpile natural gas has been compromised by years of poor strategic decision making, and that there is precious little slack in our power generating infrastructure for the same reasons.

There are too many ways in which things can now go wrong, with more powerful storms influenced by climate change, the increasing likelihood of a rogue AI causing havoc, or a direct attack on national infrastructure by a hostile state (Iran, or Russia, or both), exacerbated by the lack of resilience in many areas thanks to years of government complacency and poor planning.

So … who’s prepping? And what are you keeping in your garage or shed for when the zombie apocalypse rises?

don't worry andy burnham is on gogglebox and he's got twiglets and crisps

heating sorted [coal] lots of rice beans and lentils ,canned meats,batteries ,candles, paraffin lamps ,rechargeable lamps , 2x norwegian army mess kits ,hexi stoves and spirit stoves 3x camping gaz lanterns ,3x camping gas stoves .powdered instant tea, powdered potato, powdered milk, noodles

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Chris

exacerbated by the lack of resilience in many areas thanks to years of government complacency and poor planning.

The peace dividend since the end of the Cold War, has been well and truly spaffed, like a drunk at Doncaster races.

We’re back in a world where the currency of peace is power, and we don’t have much of that anymore. In fact we are evidentially weak.

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by thenry

I've never brought toilet roll in my life. It amazed me what COVID dealt peoples behaviour. Anyway I was taught to wash my bottom at an early age. I'd rather keep my heating on with that money!

One wise man said someone was gambling with wwiii once. Sorry to have no sympathy. Wise man is buying diesel from the opponent now

So you wipe your ass with your fingers......ewww

[thenry]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

So you wipe your ass with your fingers......ewww

Nothing a bit of soap can't handle

https://astonish.co.uk/products/milk...40257573912755

smells lovely by the way

Originally Posted by Pierre

The peace dividend since the end of the Cold War, has been well and truly spaffed, like a drunk at Doncaster races.

We’re back in a world where the currency of peace is power, and we don’t have much of that anymore. In fact we are evidentially weak.

The end of history and all that …

I was lucky enough to be in my school CCF back in the late 80s, Navy section, and so got to go on camps that gave us access to all sorts of places most people never see. When I think of the scale of the RN back then and where we are now it’s infuriating. So much of the stuff a navy needs can’t be bought off the shelf or ordered for delivery next year. We have too few destroyers because some idiot in the treasury decided that a T45 being twice as capable meant we needed only half as many of them (whilst forgetting that one ship can still only be in one place at a time), and they’ve spent hardly any time at sea because they under-specced the generators, all of which have had to be replaced, which has involved cutting open the hulls to get the old ones out.

We only have aircraft carriers because, in possibly their one really good decision, the outgoing Labour government in 2010 fixed the contracts so David Cameron couldn’t cancel them (it would have been more expensive than continuing). He did, of course, have a fleet of half-built RAF early warning aircraft scrapped instead, and delayed the frigate replacement programme with the results we’re now seeing to RN availability. It is utterly, utterly depressing.

I read somewhere this week that France doesn’t have this issue, regardless of its current economic woes, because defence review and spending is substantially influenced by a cross party committee drawn from the legislature which means much more of the decision making is kept out in the open and much less is down to the whim of whoever is actually in power. I don’t know how true that is but something like that could scarcely be worse than our own pointless, seemingly endless, strategic defence reviews which appear to exist exclusively to decide what should get cut next.

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by thenry

Nothing a bit of soap can't handle

https://astonish.co.uk/products/milk...40257573912755

smells lovely by the way

Are you Indian by any chance based on your no bog roll comment? And I guess you must never have any guests over.

[thenry]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

Are you Indian by any chance based on your no bog roll comment? And I guess you must never have any guests over.

Is washing butts exclusive to just Indians? my mother's side are Indian.

I use blue roll to clean my windows and have crying tissue boxes.

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by thenry

Is washing butts exclusive to just Indians? my mother's side are Indian.

I use blue roll to clean my windows and have crying tissue boxes.

I was half right then.

[Carth]

Paul is right about this sort of scenario being drip fed for months (if not years).

We have no army/navy/police in any great number, we have very little food reserves, water is getting to be a problem, power is a complete shit show (even after all the money thrown at the 'clean options).

Government (and previous) have taken their eye off the ball . . probably due to kicking it into the long grass.

I'm not worried about the thought of foreign attacks, I'm more worried about when the people here who have bugger all decide to take what they want . . . with violence

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Carth

Paul is right about this sort of scenario being drip fed for months (if not years).

We have no army/navy/police in any great number, we have very little food reserves, water is getting to be a problem, power is a complete shit show (even after all the money thrown at the 'clean options).

Government (and previous) have taken their eye off the ball . . probably due to kicking it into the long grass.

I'm not worried about the thought of foreign attacks, I'm more worried about when the people here who have bugger all decide to take what they want . . . with violence

they'll know where to go for arse soap

Originally Posted by Carth

Paul is right about this sort of scenario being drip fed for months (if not years).

We have no army/navy/police in any great number, we have very little food reserves, water is getting to be a problem, power is a complete shit show (even after all the money thrown at the 'clean options).

Government (and previous) have taken their eye off the ball . . probably due to kicking it into the long grass.

I'm not worried about the thought of foreign attacks, I'm more worried about when the people here who have bugger all decide to take what they want . . . with violence

Err…

For all their flaws, I think the best signal we have that government at least recognises the problem was Burnham immediately sacking Rachel from Accounts and putting John Healey in the treasury instead. Reeves’ earlier decisions about defence spending, right at a time when the UK was deeply engaged with other European Nato members on the subject of increasing defence spending, demonstrated that she simply wasn’t capable of grasping that we do not presently live in a world where she can ignore defence and splurge money on progressive pet projects beloved of Labour activists. Healey was of course the defence secretary, who then resigned. So when he delivers his budget imminently, it will be delivered by a man who at least knows, in detail, the size of the problem, and the necessity of confronting it. That’s not to say he’ll be able to go far enough, sadly. We shall just have to see.