Civil Preparedness for War

Baroness Harris of Richmond Excerpts

Monday 20th April 2026 Grand Committee

Asked by

[Baroness Harris of Richmond]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the United Kingdom’s civil preparedness for war.

[Baroness Harris of Richmond (LD)]

My Lords, I begin by declaring my defence interests: I am patron to the various RAF regiment associations, and I have just heard from their group captain that their gunners have shot down more Iranian drones, by quite some margin, than any other UK defence unit. I am sure that the Minister will want to congratulate them on that. I would also like to thank our fantastic Library’s research staff for their excellent briefings.

This short debate cannot really address all the issues the Government will have to face if we find ourselves in any situation in which we as citizens must react in order to survive any attack on our country. Geopolitical storms are raging in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere, and I am concerned that we are not prepared for what I feel may well be the future: strikes on our critical infrastructure; drones—now the favoured form of bombing; sabotage; air and maritime invasions; online disinformation; cyber attacks; attacks on our underwater cables, which carry more than 95% of our international data; and attacks on the one single pipeline which carries 77% of our gas, said the noble Lord, Lord Robertson, in his speech during the strategic defence review debate in July 2025. And then, of course, there is climate change.

That excellent review, however, says little about how we citizens should prepare ourselves for any future crises that will occur when we find ourselves without the life-sustaining structures around us that we are used to—unlike Europe, which appears to be alerting its citizens to major disruptions to their lives. The EU has adopted its preparedness union strategy, which aims to

“enhance the EU’s civilian and military preparedness and readiness for future crises so that all actors are ready and capable to respond quickly and effectively if needed.”

It sets out 30 actions across seven areas. They are too numerous for me to go into this afternoon, but one of the seven areas is population preparedness and societal resilience: supporting citizens and communities to prepare for and respond to crises—not the first responders or gold commanders, but we, the citizens.

Finland, for example, to take just one of the EU countries, is telling its citizens that they must prepare in advance for disruption to internet banking services, and for natural phenomena such as storms and wildfires, pandemics, military conflicts, etc.; there is a long list of topics that can be brought up on the website. It is also maintaining its bunker network, allowing shelter for 4.4 million people. Professor Tim Lang, a food policy expert, has urged our Government to follow the example of many other countries by encouraging us to begin stockpiling foods such as dried goods, which need no cooking—and lots of water. Finland, Norway and Sweden have all issued updated preparedness guides to their citizens. Finland does this digitally. Norway and Sweden have sent physical copies and instructions to all households. Do we have any intention of doing something similar?

The strategic defence review talks about a “whole-of-society approach” to any impending emergency and, in recommendation 26 on page 92, it welcomes

“the Prime Minister’s launch of a national conversation on defence and security”.

So I ask the Minister: when will this happen, and will it provide instructions for communities on how they can begin to prepare themselves? Further, a home defence programme to meet defence’s needs in the event of escalation to war will include mobilisation of reserves and industry, but there is no mention of what we citizens should be doing. Can the Minister update us on this, please?

What has happened to the Security Action for Europe—SAFE—programme, which was supposed to start but broke down in November? We need to connect better with Europe now and learn from it how to prepare ourselves in the event of war or large-scale disruption. It has a culture of resilience and uses targeted information campaigns and educational programmes, with accessible online courses, developing household emergency plans and stockpiling essential supplies. The EU Parliament has an action plan for indicative preparedness. Do we?

Page 87 of the SDR talks about building “national resilience”, but I am not sure how we will do this if we are not told what to expect and when. I do not wish to be alarmist but, in talking to senior friends in our Armed Forces, I am aware of their concerns about any future conflicts. I simply want our Government to be clear with us about what they advise us to do in order that we can prepare ourselves in case of national disruption. The aim should be a public understanding of the challenges we face—one that feels capable of contributing to our collective response, rather than one that is either complacent or alarmist.

Iran’s rockets, and certainly those of Russia and China, can now reach mainland Europe. I am sure there are missiles out there that can reach us. Can we at least have some idea what we should be doing to help ourselves? For instance, are the Government drafting legislative measures to improve defence readiness? How will they increase public awareness, engagement and understanding of our defence? What are they doing to improve the resilience of critical national infrastructure? Finally, how are the Government advertising the GOV.UK Prepare website, getting us prepared for an emergency? The clock is ticking. We are near midnight.