Prepare for supply chain disruption from cyber or climate emergencies, Streeting warns public

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has urged the public and businesses to prepare for disruption to supply chains caused by cyber attacks or climate emergencies.

Speaking at the opening of the UK Gun Hall Plant in Telford, Shropshire, on Thursday, Streeting said people needed to be more aware of the emerging risks facing the country and to make plans for dealing with them.

He warned the public to expect "increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks" on businesses, asking: "How would we cope if the payment systems at the local supermarket went down?"

"Those are the sorts of everyday challenges and threats that we could well face," he said. "And it's right that we prepare for them."

He pointed to wildfires that burned this summer and flooding expected this winter as examples of the climate threats Britain faces.

The government is launching what it calls a "national resilience conversation" to raise awareness of the risks. Its "Be Ready" campaign encourages households to stock up on supplies to last three days, keep an FM radio for updates during outages, and write down the frequencies of local stations.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the advice would ensure emergency services could prioritise the people most in need. The campaign follows similar preparedness drives in France, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The warning comes after Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said last month that people should prepare for extreme weather as the strongest El Nino event in a generation develops over the Pacific. A National Audit Office report has also warned that Britain's food supply chain is vulnerable, saying the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs had not done enough to protect it.