Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has said he began stockpiling food and water several weeks ago as a precaution against a national emergency, as the Government widens its defence debate from military budgets to household resilience. Reporting of the comments, first published by The Guardian citing The Times, says Streeting argues Britain must strengthen its readiness against rising security threats.

Chancellor John Healey has set a target of raising defence spending to 3% of gross domestic product by 2030, and to 3.5% by 2035, according to the same reporting. Departments across Whitehall have been asked to find savings of 1% to help fund the increase, in a balancing act between national security, value for money and modernisation of the armed forces.

Why household readiness is part of the debate

The discussion now reaches beyond barracks and budgets. Ministers have warned in recent months about growing threats to the UK, and the Government has previously encouraged households to think about being ready for emergencies. Streeting's personal stockpiling is presented in the reporting as his own step, not as a new legal duty on households, and no new household instruction is announced in the reports.

What is not yet settled is how the higher spending path will be paid for in detail, or how far household advice will go beyond general preparedness messages. The spending targets and the savings ask are the firm policy points in the reporting; the personal stockpile is the detail that has drawn attention, because it puts a minister's own planning in the same conversation as the national debate.