The British government’s “Be Ready” campaign has caused a rush on tinned goods, bringing back memories of the COVID-۱۹ pandemic when supermarkets ran dangerously low on toilet paper and online vendors were price-gouging on the internet.
In the ۱۰ days since the campaign urging citizens in England and Wales to be ready for a national emergency was launched on October ۲۲, sales of bottled water have risen by ۶۷ percent; tinned and jarred food by ۳۷ percent; and hand sanitiser by ۸۳ percent, according to retail research firm Worldpanel by Numerator. Wind-up radios, torches and power banks have also sold out at several retailers.
British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, the campaign’s most prominent public face, says the government wants people to be “alert but not alarmed”. So what is Be Ready, why now, and is it really necessary?
What is ‘Be Ready’?
Be Ready is a three-year public information campaign being run by the Cabinet Office. Its launch on October ۲۲ marked its first stage.
The government is asking households in England and Wales to make sure they would be able to cope on their own for ۷۲ hours if electricity, water, phone and internet services all fail in the event of a national emergency. The idea is that emergency services can then focus on people who require more urgent assistance.
The campaign’s website features a checklist, starting with bottled water and long-life food that does not need to be kept in a fridge, such as tinned food, dried fruit and nuts.
It also recommends having a torch, spare batteries, a charged power bank and a wind-up or battery-powered radio, along with cash in case card payments go down, a first aid kit, medication, warm clothing and blankets to hand.
The new website covers England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland receive their own advice through Ready Scotland and NI Direct.
More than ۵۰۰ organisations, including charities, businesses and faith and community groups, have signed up to spread the message.
Official household preparedness guidance has existed since May ۲۰۲۴. What is new is the push to get people to act on it.
What’s this all for?
Officially, the focus of the campaign is to ensure households can get through “everyday emergencies” such as storms, floods, wildfires and burst water pipes. The campaign follows months of heatwaves, drought and fires across the United Kingdom this summer.
The government also highlights how unprepared Britons say they are. In a Cabinet Office survey this year, only ۱۳ percent said their household was largely or totally prepared for an emergency, while ۸۴ percent wanted more advice from the government.
Independent research points the same way. A ۲۰۲۵ survey of ۹۳۱ people by Bournemouth University’s Disaster Management Centre, part of its EM-PREPARE project, found that only ۵۲ percent felt they understood the hazards they faced, and ۲۱ percent said they were not aware of the risks at all. The same study found that ۸۱ percent were willing to do more to prepare.
In September, the National Audit Office, the UK’s spending watchdog, warned of threats facing Britain’s food supply chain.
The security backdrop features, too. Ministers have linked the campaign to the risk of cyberattacks and hostile state activity against critical infrastructure. On Remembrance Day, Defence Minister Lord Coaker said the ۱۳ percent figure was exactly why the campaign had been launched.
The UK is also catching up with its neighbours. The European Commission’s Preparedness Union Strategy, adopted in March ۲۰۲۵, recommends that people be able to cope alone for at least ۷۲ hours. Sweden posted ۵.۲ million copies of its crisis-preparedness brochure to households in November ۲۰۲۴, and Finland, Poland and the Czech Republic run similar campaigns.
What has the response been?
Shoppers in England and Wales have acted fast and enthusiastically. Supermarket chain Iceland said sales of tinned products rose ۴۰ percent over the first weekend. Tinned-food producer Princes reported particularly high demand for tuna, meat and vegetables.
Worldpanel found the equivalent of ۴۰۰,۰۰۰ extra people a day bought tinned meat immediately after the launch.
Meanwhile, Canned Food UK, part of the Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association, has launched a consumer campaign featuring TV chef and author Theo Michaels, who demonstrates how to use canned food in tasty recipes.
The rush has extended beyond the food aisles. Electronics retailer Maplin said torch sales jumped ۲۸۴ percent; radios, ۹۲ percent; and power banks, ۱۰۶ percent, within days. Hardware store group Robert Dyas reported a ۱۶۰ percent rise in radio sales, and at least seven wind-up radio models sold out across several outlets.
Criticism has focused on tone more than substance. On BBC’s Question Time, an audience member accused Streeting of “scaremongering”, warning that the advice would trigger panic buying. Streeting replied that the campaign was about everyday threats such as wildfires, flooding and frozen pipes.
Opposition figures have largely accepted the principle. Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary Tom Tugendhat called the advice “a perfectly reasonable thing”.
Analysts and charities are split on who should carry the burden. The British Red Cross, a campaign partner, has backed it, saying simple preparation helps people support friends, family and neighbours.
But more than ۱۸۰ experts, academics, farmers and community food leaders signed an open letter warning that ۲۹ percent of Britons cannot afford a three-day food reserve. They urged ministers to set up national, regional and community food stores rather than rely on the resilience of individual households.
How ready are British households for an emergency?
On November ۲, Parliament’s Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy took evidence on public preparedness. Among the witnesses was Lee Miles, professor of crisis and disaster management at Bournemouth University, who led the EM-PREPARE study of household resilience.
His research found that ۷۵ percent of households had no major measures in place to cope with climate change, and about ۶۹ percent were willing to spend no more than one day improving their preparedness.
Miles told the committee that the challenge was to move from raising awareness to helping people act. “The important thing about the ‘Be Ready’ campaign is turning it into a ‘Being Ready’ campaign,” he said.
Miles also warned that local resilience bodies would need proper funding if they were given more responsibility. “Otherwise, you set them up to fail in various aspects; they will not be able to deliver what they are supposed to,” he told MPs.
Is this all really necessary?
Supporters say the advice is modest and overdue. Having three days of supplies is standard across much of Europe, and the ۲۰۲۵ Iberian blackout showed how fast cash machines, card payments and mobile networks can fail.
That was when Spain, Portugal and parts of southwestern France were hit by a widespread power blackout that paralysed public transport, caused large traffic jams, delayed flights, and left residents unable to access cash from ATMs, as utility operators and the authorities scrambled to restore the electric grid.
With only one in eight Britons feeling prepared, they argue, a calm campaign now is better than a panicked one during a crisis. Retail data so far suggests most people have responded calmly.
The Bournemouth research highlights why the messaging could be critical. Households responding to that said they saw accidents at home as the hazard most likely to affect them – cited by ۳۵ percent – while only ۵ percent named war and conflict, and ۴ percent terrorism.
Miles called for more targeted risk communication to the public, alongside education to help households build their resilience.
