Prime Minister responds to Housing Secretary’s joke of including alcohol in an emergency kit
Angela Rayner joked that wine would be in her emergency kit (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham insisted alcohol should not be the priority when preparing an emergency box of supplies in a swipe at Angela Rayner. The Government is urging Britons to keep essential items such as tinned food and bottled water in the event of a crisis as part of a new campaign.
The Housing Secretary previously joked that a bottle of sauvignon blanc and mascara would be in her kit. Asked if wine would also be part of his emergency box, the Prime Minister said: “I’m not sure that that’s the top of the list in terms of the advice that we’re giving to the public.
“You need to have a clear head when it comes to a challenging situation. So yeah, some tins of food, some bottled water. But I’m sure people are allowed a glass or two as well to get them through a difficult situation.”
Under the “be ready” campaign, households are being urged to prepare for everyday services being temporarily disrupted by stocking three days’ worth of key supplies.
The checklist advises stocking up with three days’ worth of bottled water and non-perishable food, a battery-powered or wind-up FM radio to receive updates during outages, and cash in case electronic payments or cash machines are disrupted.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting defended the campaign against accusations of “scaremongering” on Thursday’s Question Time after panic buying during the Covid pandemic.
Mr Streeting said: “We did have this debate though, just to reassure… because we want people to be alert but not alarmed, and the truth is we looked around the rest of Europe, ‘what are our friends doing across the continent?’.
“They are way ahead of us on some of this stuff.”
Tory shadow national security minister Alicia Kearns criticised the advice as “lecturing the public”.
She said: “Preparing for emergencies is important. But the Government should get its own house in order before lecturing the public. It isn’t families that are failing to fund our defence or secure reliable energy – it’s Labour.
“With rising threats to our national security, we must all be ready to face all eventualities. We each have a role to play, but the Government must lead by example.”