AIBU to think the stockpile advice suggests something to come??

I don't know any independent corner shops with electric powered doors. Only corner shops owned by Tesco etc.

At the beginning of COVID and the toilet roll panic my husband went into a corner shop. I forget what for. The shop keeper pulled out a bag of rice from under the counter. "Here, you might need this". It's probably still in our cupboard.

Haha I know the feeling. My friend walked her dogs in the forest and nearly died when she after a while started to spot quiet green faces in helmets. And a colleague went for her daily walk in the forest, missing the signs not to enter, and was told on a loudspeaker to leave immediately. In the middle of the forest. 😂

We had nato air exercises last summer next door to my workplace. Made me giggle every time I drove in the gate and a man would pop his head out to check who was coming. Very noisy planes though.

Keep an eye on this. This winter is going to be interesting for energy I suspect.

You are preaching to the converted on this.
That's why it's a controversial thing to be trying to recruit in schools in the first place.

I don’t really count our food in the freezer as a stockpile.

Same here. 18 and with full knowledge what is expected. And even those who don’t enroll are expected to help depending on what you do for a living. Teachers for example are to stay at work etc. Or you will have to work in a different job altogether.

If you have a car that could be useful in war that car is no longer your car. And horses and dogs.

We know what is expected of us citizens and where our nearest shelters are.

Well I don't think 16 year olds ought to be allowed to enlist, they're too young to comprehend all the implications, but I would hope that this kind of thing is made clear to them. Young people here decide around 18 years old if they will do military service, if they do its with the full knowledge that they remain liable for call up until 60 or 65.

Indeed!

None of our stored food is frozen for this exact reason, its all tinned or dried. And our corner shops, both, installed electric powered doors ages ago, aside from which modern shops aren't set up to just take cash. Most shops would have to close in a power failure.

There is definitely some mumbling.

Must be a different budget than schools and healthcare..

Sorry I misread that post - the military cost.

Well that's why they've cancelled everything else isn't it?!

Ultimately if there are more people with extra in the community from people who can afford it, it helps those who can't as there is less competition for what emergency rations are available and local communities will have more available to share.

It means cost is somewhat irrelevant. Even if you can't afford it.

It's system and national resilience as well as individual resilience.

It's very odd how no-one is talking about the expense of all this!

😂 I’m glad my old cat no longer had her hearing with all the blank bombs going off!

The MOD wants a British military that is '10 times more lethal'. Ten times more than what? I think we have a low starting figure!

You have to wonder, don’t you. 😂😂

Every time a blank bomb went off I couldn’t help wondering how much that cost and how on earth we could afford it. 😂

A useful summary of the Defence Investment Plan

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10935/

Apparently there is money for this? What happened to the 'we don't have enough funds to train more people'? The MOD wants a British military that is '10 times more lethal'. Ten times more than what? I think we have a low starting figure! 😂Still at least they're doing something because we can't stay as we are, militarily, we do need to improve.

We had tanks on the roads and military people hiding in the bushes as you drove along.

'Oh 'ello, you comfortable sitting in that bush?' 😂I imagine my cat being annoyed at his favourite haunts having the military in them!

Oh here it’s women too. My dd was called in when she was 18 and was horrified but in the end she didn’t have to.

No. Certainly not.

The British army has always targeted poor working class boys desperate to get away from a situation with no idea of what they are actually signing up for.

Men who understand the implications are the type of men who won't sign up.

DH considered it but didn't pass a medical. He says he was lucky in hindsight...

Oh we hear and see them quite often. Sometimes chasing away Russian planes.

We had tanks on the roads and military people hiding in the bushes as you drove along. It was so incredibly noisy day and night. I think there were 18.000 soldiers or so.

https://www.nato.int/en/multimedia/multimedia/photos/2026/05/07/nato-allies-train-together-in-swedish-led-exercise-aurora-2026

Well, of course you will have to. Is this new to the UK..?

Wow! That makes this feel all the more real. It's a long time since Tornado jets roared past our house, they used to practise here a lot.

We had a huge military exercise where I live this summer. From all over the world. Our windows were shaking for weeks..

@RedToothBrush There are a huge number of logistics jobs Yes this is what my DP said (whose Dad was in the Army), many reservists would find themselves in that type of supporting role (and no less important of course).

I think you have to see moves like this as increasing our war readiness. It is an uneasy feeling to see plans like this. Tbh it's probably not a bad idea because the territorials in 1914 were caught off guard really and it would be better for the reserves to be ready than to do all this after the outbreak of war.

The thing is, if you had talked about this ten years ago it wouldnt feel so real or scary. The fact other countries are also doing the same, if not going much further, and the fact it feels foreboding is a reflection on international instability... The two go hand in hand.

Yes it does give me a very uneasy feeling probably because my entire lifetime of 70 years has been lived in countries at peace, although I've heard plenty of stories about WW2 and WW1 from relatives involved. Makes me very grateful we have not had to do what they did. The thought of that changing is frightening, honestly. I do wonder though whether we are rather too late to the party, things could kick off before next Spring.

So many young people join up to get away from shitty lives. The long term consequences don't occur to them.
Then there was as someone I met through my IT job. He was keen to get out as soon as he could. He wasn't built for it and he said the training was gruesome, the hallucinations from exhaustion etc.