Question
The Security Minister and Cabinet Office Minister knows that I have a huge amount of time for him, but I want to slightly break the consensus that has mostly held in the Chamber today. I think the Government’s communications—mass public communications—are confused on this issue. We are being asked by senior Ministers to stock up on corned beef, water and whatever, because of storms. Well—breaking news—there have been many storms over the last 80 years in Shropshire, and indeed across the country, and we have never been given this advice before. If this is about war preparedness and being on a war footing, as the Defence Secretary has suggested we should all be, I think the Government should just come clean and treat the British public with a little bit more respect. At the beginning of the Ukrainian war, defence intelligence was signed off by the excellent then Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, and shared with the British public, so that they came along with the Ministry of Defence and the Government. I think that the Security Minister needs to look at that as a good example.
Answer
I have a lot of time for the right hon. Gentleman, and he has basically asked a series of good questions that lend themselves more to a longer debate, so I may not be able to do justice to them now. However, let me emphasise that, as I said earlier, this campaign is about taking the simple, straightforward steps to be ready for everyday emergencies such as severe storms or flooding. At the same time, there is significant bandwidth across Government to talk about the other threats we face as a nation, and I think that is what he is referring to. Ultimately, what we have to do, and this is done from the centre, is to make sure that we are preparing communities at the local level for the everyday emergencies we have been talking about today, while at the same time making sure that we are properly prepared for the very severe threats we face from countries such as Russia.17% vibes
Verdict: RED (22/100)
The reply gives little that the questioner could act on. On whether the stockpiling advice is linked to war preparedness, it describes the campaign as being about everyday emergencies and points to separate work on Russian threats, but it never says directly whether the two are connected or commits to being open about it. On whether the public should be told about the wider threats, including the precedent of Ben Wallace sharing defence intelligence, it gives only a general reference to Government bandwidth and does not address the precedent or commit to considering it. The questioner would likely need to ask again for specific answers.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asks the Government to be open with the public about whether the stockpiling advice is linked to war preparedness. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply says the campaign is about everyday emergencies and that separate Government work covers the severe threats from Russia, which touches on the link to war preparedness. It never says directly whether the stockpiling advice is connected to war preparedness or commits to being open about it, so the answer is incomplete and evasive. |
| Asks the Security Minister to consider the precedent of the then Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, sharing defence intelligence with the British public at the start of the Ukraine war. | Partially Addressed | Generic | The reply never mentions Ben Wallace's sharing of defence intelligence or any precedent, and does not commit to considering it. Its remark that there is 'significant bandwidth across Government to talk about the other threats' only loosely gestures at public communication of threats, and the 'may not be able to do justice to them now' line is not a real deferral. |