UK advised to stockpile food as Russian Attack fears grow

Desdemona

FriedGreenTomatoes2

As much as I’d love to face down the Russians with powdered milk and a tin of beans, I can’t help feeling there’s a better solution. 🤔

This, exactly.

In the event of nuclear attack on the UK, a can of beans and a packet of porridge will not save you.

Yes, but a nuclear attack is not the most likely way that we would be attacked. You can’t save yourself from a nuclear attack, but you can protect yourself from the impact of other forms of attack, particularly cyber attacks, which are probably the most likely. I don’t really understand why people would be averse to taking sensible steps to protect themselves.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

As much as I’d love to face down the Russians with powdered milk and a tin of beans, I can’t help feeling there’s a better solution. 🤔

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Casdon

I know a lot of people prefer to stick their fingers in their ears and sing la la la to this sort of advice, but we live in dangerous times, and it would only take a major cyber attack to plunge the country into chaos. No Internet transactions means no food, no petrol, no water, no power.

Without going OTT! I’m prepared, the only thing I haven’t yet got is a solar battery set up, which I’d like as a back up for power cuts anyway.

👍👍👍

I have loo rolls and wine so feel I’m well equipped. (Do have tins of beans etc too but not in industrial quantities)

watermeadow

Whatever rubbish have you been reading? Daily Mail? Get your news from a reputable source, BBC, broadsheet newspaper, and you won’t be worried by fake news and scams.

It’s actually from The Telegraph. I have Apple News app which delivers my daily news from all reputable sources.

Graphite

Important not to panic over this kind of thing.

Full Telegraph piece with paywall removed:

archive.ph/20260714175544/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/14/defence-russia-public-stockpile-food-russian-cyber-attacks/#selection-4125.0-4129.30

Extract:

Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, announced on Tuesday that the Government would also wargame a “hybrid” attack on the UK by a foreign adversary next year.

The “national home defence exercise” will see hundreds of civil servants plan their response to a crisis from inside Whitehall.

...

^Sir Keir Starmer revealed last month that Western intelligence agencies believed an attack by Russia on a Nato country could come within four years.^

Important not to panic over this kind of thing.

When this becomes general knowledge - a visit to your local supermarket might indicate that this advice will have been well and truly ignored.

I still remember the 'panic-buying' of stacks of toilet-paper during Covid - people swooshing numerous tins of food and bread into their trollies... watched by most other shoppers with a mix of disdain and amusement.

There's a section of the British public who - when told to act 'responsibly', take it as a signal to do the exact opposite.

Fallingstar

Always have plenty of loo rolls and pasta - probs because they ran out during Covid - also I tend to stockpile tinned goods, beans, soups, sardines, tuna, and jars of pasta sauce. I also have candles matches and a lighter and torches, have just always had these things. Plus a well stocked first aid box.

Me too! It’s not alarmist, it’s simply sense.

There’s so many reason why mam of us might be “cut off” or need a weeks supply of food etc around.

Not just various forms of attacks, but also extreme weather, our own illness, strikes of all kinds (I mean workers strikes)

It’s certainly not daft to ensure we have enough, without panic buying.

LtEve

I have loo rolls and wine so feel I’m well equipped. (Do have tins of beans etc too but not in industrial quantities)

If you have loads of wine and beans you will need industrial amounts of loo roll (or at least I would!!)

Oh I don't know. How much planning can an individual do? I have a few standby tins of soup and beans in the cupboard, some tea lights and matches, a few bottles of spring water.

In the event of something major going down, we are quite helpless really, and just need to hope it doesn't happen.

I am glad we have a wood burning stove. If power and gas are down in a cold snap we will have heating and cooking facilities.

There is a Swiss Army knife on the kit list. I knew mine would come in handy one day (if only because it has a corkscrew and a pair of tweezers!!).

I will save or buy nothing different its done to panic us into buying more
Remember all those empty shelves in Covid

Well that’s it, put the fear of god into everyone. No blinking wonder Food & stuff is being hiked up in the supermarkets 😩

BlueBelle

I will save or buy nothing different its done to panic us into buying more
Remember all those empty shelves in Covid

💯

M0nica

I am glad we have a wood burning stove. If power and gas are down in a cold snap we will have heating and cooking facilities.

Oh that’s ok then until this government bans them, which they want to do.

I’m sick to the back teeth of all these scaremongering, panic inciting tactics from certain media.
Certainly, it’s sensible to have your cupboards stocked up, but panic buying helps no one.

For all you lot that keep spending on cards won’t you need to stock pile some cash as a back up?

A much calmer approach to Darren Jones’ statement compared to the Telegraph’s scaremongering headline.

Compare:

DT: Stockpile food in case of Russian cyber attack, No 10 to tell public

Guardian: Britons urged to take ‘small steps’ to prepare for potential national crises

.. and goes on to say …

The British public should begin taking “small but important steps” to secure and protect water, power supplies and basic phone signal in case of further severe weather emergencies, national crises or cyber-attacks, Downing Street has said.

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, told MPs “the risks we face from climate change cannot be underestimated”, and warned of the “significant and prolonged disruption to essential services” extreme weather events could cause.

Jones also said the combination of increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence, and the conflict in the Middle East and Russia’s war in Ukraine could enable criminals to carry out “hostile cyber-attacks against businesses and critical infrastructure”.

Jones said: “Throughout our history, the UK has overcome challenges, from plagues and pandemics to war, and our fair share of wet weather. It is right that we consistently evaluate the risks we could face and plan for what may come.

So this isn’t all about potential acts of war from hostile states. It's as much about being prepared if you live in an area prone to flooding or shops run low of food supplies as some have recently when refrigeration failed due to the very hot weather.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/14/britons-urged-small-steps-prepare-potential-national-crises

MawsRosie

Well I have been teased often enough especially by DD1 that my freezer could withstand a nuclear winter so I might be saying “I told you so”.
Thinking about it I could probably live off my surplus fat too.

Oh well better take my books & charity bargains out of freezer & stock up pizza 😂

Anyway I thought putin was done for? I heard he was having cardiac arrest the other day🙏🙏🙏🙏