Britain and its NATO allies have a little over three years to prepare for potential attacks from hostile states. Defence Secretary Streeting wrote in a newspaper on Saturday that adversaries could be ready to strike by 2030.
"Our adversaries’ willingness to harm us is not new. What has changed is their capacity. By 2030, their force strength and war economy could put them in a position to attack. That gives us a little over 1,000 days to complete our mission: to be ready with our allies to fight and win," he wrote in The Telegraph.
Streeting stated that his defining priority is ensuring the country is prepared to fight and win a conflict. He warned that Britain faces a greater level of threat than for most of his lifetime, citing hostile states, cyberattacks, organized crime and climate change.
The warnings coincide with the government launch of the Be Ready campaign. The initiative advises households to stock essential supplies, including bottled water, nonperishable food and cash, to last three days during a national emergency.
Officials said the guidance aims to strengthen national resilience rather than respond to specific intelligence warnings. Streeting said that terms like hybrid warfare and grey zone threats fail to capture the severity of the risks.
"It’s really important that we ask households and businesses, are they prepared? Are they ready? Do they know how they would respond in the event of everyday challenges that might manifest themselves?" he said according to The Mirror.
He added that the threats are real and located within the country rather than elsewhere, requiring serious attention to both national defence and resilience. The government also pointed to a recent PHP software security incident that triggered millions of hacking attempts as evidence of growing vulnerabilities.
Streeting warned that cyber incidents will likely increase as artificial intelligence allows attackers to bypass traditional defences more easily. Prime Minister Andy Burnham also called for proactive emergency planning during a meeting on wildfire responses, announcing a new plan involving military aircraft deployment.
"It’s not about panicking. It’s about just taking sensible measures to have enough in the house to tide you over should there be a difficult situation," Burnham told the BBC.
The British guidance mirrors recommendations issued by the European Commission in March 2025. That initiative urged European Union citizens to keep seventy-two-hour emergency kits with food, water, cash and power banks.
