UK government rules out 'shopping list' for emergency stockpiling
Treasury minister James Murray says people should decide for themselves what to keep at home, after a campaign urged households to stock up for 72 hours.
At a glance
- Treasury minister James Murray said the government will not issue a 'shopping list' for households stockpiling emergency supplies.
- Ministers launched a campaign on Thursday urging people to keep 72 hours of supplies, after warnings about overseas cyber-attacks.
- The budget, five days away, will include £800m of red tape cuts for businesses, according to John Healey.
The UK government will not publish a "shopping list" telling the public what to buy to prepare for an emergency, Treasury minister James Murray has said, after ministers launched a campaign urging households to keep 72 hours of supplies.
Speaking on the morning broadcast round, Murray told Times Radio: "This is not about the Government sending out a shopping list to everyone in the country."
He said the aim was "putting the right information there on the government website, having an information campaign so that people are aware about it and then people taking the right choices for themselves about what they need to make sure they have supplies of at home."
The stockpiling advice was launched on Thursday and comes after repeated warnings over the past 18 months about cyber-attacks from overseas that could affect key systems. In a separate incident, 32 government services were taken offline after millions of attempts to exploit a weakness in the coding of numerous websites.
Budget five days away
Murray was also asked on BBC Radio 4 whether the government would reduce red tape for business. He said cutting "pointless bureaucracy" was "at the heart of what the Chancellor is going to be thinking about".
John Healey said the Treasury would aim to cut £800m of red tape for businesses at the budget, including reduced reporting requirements. The budget, the first for Andy Burnham and John Healey, is five days away.
Poppy Appeal launch
Elsewhere, Andy Burnham met armed forces veterans and Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal collectors to mark the start of this year's campaign.
He welcomed them to Number 10 North's office in central Manchester, rather than following the usual convention of making a donation to the cause on the steps of Number 10 in Downing Street.
Source: The Guardian World.
Questions and answers
- What is the UK government's 72-hour stockpile advice?
- It urges people to keep three days of supplies at home in case of a disaster. Ministers say they will not publish a shopping list, and that people should decide for themselves what they need.
- Why is the government telling people to prepare for emergencies?
- It follows repeated warnings over the past 18 months about cyber-attacks from overseas that could affect key systems. Thirty-two government services were taken offline after millions of attempts to exploit a weakness in website coding.
- What will be in the upcoming UK budget?
- The Treasury aims to cut £800m of red tape for businesses, including reduced reporting requirements, according to John Healey. James Murray said cutting 'pointless bureaucracy' is at the heart of the Chancellor's thinking.
