The Head of MI5 (the Security Service) has said this week that it's only a matter of time before there's a major terrorist incident in the UK. I think we're talking Al Qaeda rather than Irish at this point. It's refreshing to see the mass of advice from the Home Office then:

Sensible precautions

It is sensible to be prepared for any emergency in the home and to make plans for any major disruption, including severe weather and floods.

In any type of emergency, you could lose access to power, water, telephones, and roads. Therefore:


Have on hand such items as:


batteries

a battery-powered torch

a battery-powered or wind-up radio

some ready-to-eat food, e.g. tinned food

a few bottles of water (?? a few ??*@!! - Cas)

blankets or duvets

Have the phone numbers of your local police, council, utility companies and family members handy in one place.
Make sure you know where the main switches for electricity, water and gas are located in your home, as you may need to turn them off in an emergency.

I feel totally safe now then - I'm sure Staffordshire Constabulary will cope with millions of citizens phoning them up to report the mushroom cloud!

Whilst I agree that there's a fine line between scaring the public more with your advice than the actual threat, I think we can safely say that the Home Office subscribes to the 'Kiss Your Ass Goodbye' school of survival training.

Any comments?

The US FEMA site has a library of decent information to deal with many different types of emergencies. The notable lack of self-defense advice and civil collapse scenarios is unfortunate but the rest of the information is decently complete for many scenarios.

I think that one of the real difficulties that governments have is admitting that they will fail to protect their citizenry. The tone of all government publications is "here is how to cooperate with the government so that we can better protect you".

Information on "what to do when Big Brother is missing, dead or your enemy" is not to be found from Big Brother.

To bad that you cannot arm yourself as an additional precaution.

At least you can tell the homespawn terrorists by the orange sashes. A nation's government is one thing, while a nation is yet another. Falling into bigoted groups like the national front or subscribing to any philosophy that isolates won't help. G.B.isn't a land of Picts,Saxons and Normans anymore. Mao said ' A guerilla is a fish that swims in the community sea." Swim together. Then again, you could always send the football hooligans to find Bin ladin. Just tell them he supports Manchester United <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />