UK defence secretary announces food and water stockpiling amid defence spending boost
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said on 31 October that he had begun stockpiling food and water weeks earlier as part of preparations for a national emergency, and urged households to improve their own resilience. The announcement follows a series of measures announced by Chancellor John Healey. On 27 October Healey ordered all government departments to find 1 % cuts in capital spending to cover a £4.
7 billion shortfall in the Defence Investment Plan, said the government would borrow billions and allocate funds to the National Wealth Fund, and set a target of raising defence spending to 3 % of GDP by 2030 while pledging an extra £10 billion in aid for Ukraine. Earlier, Sir Ben Wallace alleged that the government had inflated defence figures by including intelligence spending, prompting a possible investigation by the UK Statistics Authority.
