Britons flock to buy wind-up radios less than 24 hours after Labour stockpiling warning
Britons have bought wind-up radios in swathes after Labour's warning to stockpile essentials earlier this week.
Several electronic and emergency goods retailers have reported huge surges in demand for the devices after the Government unveiled their Be Ready Campaign, urging people to stock up with food and water supplies to last three days, amid growing concerns over the weather and cyber threats.
Labour has since insisted it is not setting out a "shopping list" for households across the country, despite advising families to stock up with a radio, power banks and blankets, too.
Evidently, residents across the UK have taken their advice on board.
Electronic goods store Maplin has since seen its stock of wind-up radios entirely depleted – just 24 hours after the Government's advice.
The retailer has also experienced a 284 per cent increase in torch sales, and purchases of its power bank have more than doubled.
Managing director Ollie Marshall told The Telegraph they saw demand soar "within hours" of Labour's warning.
Major retailers such as Currys, John Lewis, Screwfix, Tesco, Debenhams and The Range have also experienced stock flying off the shelves entirely, according to The Sun.
Wes Streeting's announcement on Thursday followed an artificial intelligence agent exposing a critical flaw in a programming language — PHP — that underpins up to 70 per cent of the internet.
It resulted in Government portals, hospital resources, and school websites going dark.
Mr Streeting insisted "everyone needs to do their bit" on emergency preparation and advised Britons should be "alert but not alarmed".
He added: "We’ll also need to take the country a step further and ask them, are they prepared for increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks on our businesses, are they prepared for the eventuality that there may be disruption to essential supply chains caused by hostile state actors or terrorists?"
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The Be Ready website urges households to prepare for emergencies by keeping enough essential supplies to survive for three days while support reaches those most in need.
Households are advised to keep cash, copies of important documents, first-aid supplies and essential medicines, alongside any specialist items needed for babies or pets.
Ministers recommend building up supplies gradually, checking them every six months and sharing contact details with neighbours to coordinate support during an outage.
Treasury Minister James Murray defended the warning to GB News, claiming the campaign was simply "common sense" and "no specific threats" are known to the UK.
He did warn of wider threats, however, such as cyberattacks, wildfires and climate change, which he said are "real".
Kemi Badenoch told the BBC she is "stocked up for the week at any time", but the Conservative leader added: "What I'm more concerned about is that it doesn't look like (the Government) are explaining what the risks we are under are, and what they are doing about the big things.
"Families can stock up but what's going on with defence, the cyber attacks, the hybrid warfare? The money to look after the country has not been forthcoming."
Shadow Minister of State for Illegal Immigration, Crime, Policing and Fire, Matt Vickers, told the People's Channel the warning was a "sensible thing".
However, he insisted: "The bigger question is about our defence, about our ability and capability to deal with cyber attacks."
The Tory MP pleaded with the Government to spend more on the armed forces.
He stated: "The best way to work towards peace is to prepare for war – if we look weak, that is the biggest threat to peace."
Mr Vickers also said reaching the target of three per cent investment in defence will be "keeping Andy Burnham up at night".
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