Stocking up on the essentials: Labour has failed the country

By Harrison Beaken

When I saw my mum stocking up on tinned pies and cans of fruit, I assumed she had lost the plot, but no, the government has signalled that the people of Britain must be prepared and stock up in case of an emergency. Andy Burnham, on October 23rd, told Matt Chorley on BBC 5 Live radio that with unexpected events becoming increasingly common, people should keep stocked up with essentials. Defence Secretary West Streeting reinforced this on BBC Question Time, telling people to be “Alert but not alarmed” in case of potential cyberattacks or attacks on infrastructure by hostile states. The government launched a Be Ready campaign, recommending people are stocked up with essentials such as 9 litres of drinking water per person or a charged power bank to last 72 hours. 

I’m not surprised by these frankly doomsday prepping announcements. The Labour government has constantly failed to fund defence; the budget on October 28th failed to explain how the country will get to 3% of GDP on defence spending by 2030 and 3.5% by 2035, instead deferring it until the spending review next year. Hypocritical of Chancellor John Healey to make unfunded defence spending commitments when he resigned as Defence Secretary from the Starmer Government over an unfunded defence plan; it defies belief. 

Their failure in defence has meant that British citizens now have to take up the burden of stocking up in an economy that isn’t stable enough to properly handle it.

A government's critical duty is the protection of its citizens; when the Prime Minister and other senior government officials start telling its citizens to stock up, it shows negligence in their duty. It also shows Andy Burnham, and his ministers are not leaving the Westminster bubble. People can’t afford to stock up; most people are going through a cost-of-living crisis, and they don’t have the luxury to prepare for a 72-hour emergency; that's the government's job! It's not viable for Middle Britain; they need the government to pull their weight. Additionally, Burnham told people not to “Panic buy”. Burnham is a smart cookie; he went to Cambridge, so he should know that telling people to prepare for a potential imminent emergency, from a hostile state or a climate emergency, will only make people panic more. We are all old enough to remember toilet roll-gate from the COVID days, where people panic-bought toilet paper after government fearmongering, leading to old granny wrestling matches for the finest three-ply toilet paper in Tesco. 

At every opportunity to fund defence, Labour has failed, simple as that, for example, by cutting the spending of the state and the ballooning benefits bill. They’ve caved to their tax and spent backbenchers. That’s why we saw the failed £5 billion welfare cut in 2025; that’s why we saw the two-child benefit cap removed in the October 2025 budget; that’s why we have seen a commitment to nationalisation of water. Social security is nothing without national security; it doesn't matter how much you spend on welfare when your country can’t defend itself from threats. But Labour simply doesn’t care, prioritising appeasing backbenchers and securing the votes of the few rather than the defence of the many. Their failure in defence has meant that British citizens now have to take up the burden of stocking up in an economy that isn’t stable enough to properly handle it.

I could go on about the various failures of the Labour government; I’ve practically mastered it. But what are the "Emergencies" that we need to stock up on? Russia is the most immediate; their failed invasion of Ukraine has led them to become more aggressive and ramp up their cyber-attacks and threats against British and their allies’ infrastructure. Akin to a last-minute scramble, Putin and his gang are like rats fleeing a sinking ship, trying to distract the global world from their 4-year failure by putting out threats on other countries. 

What about climate emergencies? We experienced the hottest summer on record in Britain. Living in Brighton this summer, we were beaten up by 35-degree weather for the majority of it. Or what about the annexation of British territory? Argentina is more determined than ever under President Javier Milei, with allies such as America nowadays not backing our right to the island and the Falklanders' right to self-determination. A 2013 referendum settled the issue: 99.8% of Falklanders voted to remain with Britain. 

I want the best for Britain, and I don’t think Britain is at its best when the government tells us to prepare for an emergency but fails to properly fund defence. Whilst stocking up on essentials is sensible. I plead with Andy Burnham. Fund defence. Stop the scaremongering. Stop failing Britain.

 Image: Wikimedia Commons