After a recent playdate, a dad friend of mine told me that he and his family would be able to survive off-grid during a national crisis. He’s well prepared for it, in fact. He stockpiles food in barns and frozen meat in freezers. Along with canned goods, long-life milk, rice and grains. He works in cybersecurity and told me that at his second home in Wales, where he has a few acres, he’s got enough supplies – along with solar and diesel power generators – to keep them all safe for a month. He’s also trained his children, ages eight and 11, to shoot, fish and fend for themselves.
“Why not just be ready for all situations?” he said. “The UK hasn’t got contingency measures in place to the extent that we would need for a large-scale alternative plan for clean water, energy and food. [The country] is a lot more fragile than people realise. If a cyberattack does manage to shut down our power supply, most banks and utilities have back-up, but if we run out of power, we lose our phone signal because there’s not enough energy.”
