Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Streeting says UK has until 2030 to prepare for war Holly Bancroft Home Affairs Correspondent Sunday 25 October 2026 11:01 GMT Bookmark popover Removed from bookmarks Close popover Wes Streeting labels Putin a 'cold-blooded killer' Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has warned that Britain must be ready to defend itself against potential attacks from adversaries by 2030, giving the nation just over 1,000 days to prepare.
The warning coincides with the government's Be Ready campaign, which urges citizens to prepare for state-sponsored terrorism, cyber attacks, or weather emergencies. Households are being asked to stock up on nine litres of bottled water, three days' worth of food, cash, blankets, torches, and first-aid kits to build national resilience. Prime Minister Andy Burnham supported the campaign, describing the emergency preparations as sensible measures rather than cause for panic.
MI5 Director General Sir Ken McCallum warned that threats to critical infrastructure will endure, saying that the post-Cold War era of geopolitical stability has officially ended. In full Britain must be ready for war in 1,000 days, Wes Streeting warns
The Independent gives a short, attributed summary of Defence Secretary Wes Streeting's warning that Britain must be ready for war by 2030, alongside the government's Be Ready campaign. The headline and body keep the warning as Streeting's own. The one problem is minor: in its own voice the article adopts Streeting's preferred term "state-sponsored terrorism", which the outlet had earlier put in quotation marks as his.
Uses a loaded word
Minor
“urges citizens to prepare for state-sponsored terrorism”
Why this matters
The Independent writes "state-sponsored terrorism" in its own voice, with no quotation marks, as a plain description of what the Be Ready campaign covers.
The impression it gives
A reader takes "state-sponsored terrorism" as a neutral, established category of threat, set out by the campaign itself.
The context
Streeting chose this term himself in place of "hybrid warfare" and "grey zone threats", as The Independent's own earlier reporting shows. That reporting put it in quotation marks as his word. The Telegraph describes the campaign as advice for a cyber-attack or severe weather incident.