To wonder if the government have started any planning on what if a nuclear weapon hit britain

[Gotajobthrunepotism]

Even in the current climate, I don’t actually believe that a nuclear bomb will be hitting the UK.

But I wondered if the government have prepared for the eventuality.

I heard that in the 70s/80s there were loads of leaflets and adverts of what we should do if we were attacked.

In other countries they have bomb shelters and sirens.

I wouldn’t have a clue what to do. The only thing I do know is that I would want to be with my family when it happened.

Anyone one else wonder about this?

God, can you imagine what it would be like trying to survive in the governments bunker. I'm sure they will kill each other before it's safe to re-emerge, they stab each other in the back now.

Thankfully I am in London and hope to go swiftly. Though I do worry about my cats.

I toured a cold war nuclear bunker in York a while ago with a guide from English Heritage, and the planning details were quite depressing. Apparently the trained volunteers should go to the bunker once the siren had gone off (without their families), but once it hit capacity to be operational, the others would be locked out - it was first come first served as they had 3 times as many volunteers as it would fit. After 60 days of monitoring the fallout from the blast and the nuclear winds, they would have been dumped outside to fend for themselves as supplies would have run out. It was really grim and showed the contempt of the MOD for any survivors - I'd rather stay with my family and take my own chances.

What happens when you come out of the bunker? If a bomb goes off in London what would they actually find when they emerge from the bunker?

In the event of nuclear war, I think us plebs will be killed instantly. The bigwigs will spend a few weeks squashed into dingy bunkers, boring each other senseless until they run out of food and water. They will then be forced to go outside and consume contaminated food and water, which will kill them all slowly over the following days and weeks.

I reckon the armed forces have plans, if not the useless government.

None of them involve the general public id say ....

To be honest, it's better off not to survive, better to go quickly

I understand that we can't digest sweetcorn, so when the 'balloon goes up' and society collapses i calculate that with four tins of sweetcorn, a washing-up bowl and a small nail brush, one should be able to survive without additional food forever...

@Xpologog

The government have got a bomb shelter for themselves. I don’t think they give a flying fig what happens to anyone else. But I could be wrong.

You are not wrong. They don’t give a toss for us, but you can depend upon it, half your local councils will be in an underground bunker. The rest of us..they don’t care.

What happens when you come out of the bunker? If a bomb goes off in London what would they actually find when they emerge from the bunker?

There'd be nothing to see if you were outside of the blast radius, which might only be a few km.

If you survive the blast and shock wave, you'd have to deal with the radioactive dust (fallout) and the chaos that would ensue due to the army and emergency services being overwhelmed. No electricity, gas, medical help, water, food etc.

But I wondered if the government have prepared for the eventuality.

Of course they have..as others have mentioned upthread there will have been a standing plan in place since the late 1940s/very early 1950s, copies distributed and held secure in various places around the country.

The much more important questions are:

1. When was it last reviewed and when were any revisions made to it (cf. pandemic planning)?

1. Will the plan make a scrap of difference in the event the worse happens?

@toomuchlaundry

What happens when you come out of the bunker? If a bomb goes off in London what would they actually find when they emerge from the bunker?

Depends how close they are to the blast - Hiroshima and nagasaki photos are up on Google (warning, they're very hard to stomach). Outside of the main blast radius it would be radioactive Ash clouds that fall like snow and contaminate anything outside - the survivors die of radiation poisoning in varying amounts of time with symptoms similar to how the victims died in chernobyl (again the sky TV series showed this but its very graphic, so not for the anxious).

Whilst there is a bunker whether the "elite" make itt there in time is entirely different. And it's not all that either contrary to belief.... I've bounced on the PMs bed....

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

I understand that we can't digest sweetcorn, so when the 'balloon goes up' and society collapses i calculate that with four tins of sweetcorn, a washing-up bowl and a small nail brush, one should be able to survive without additional food forever...

Snigger!!

Buckinghamshire?

I remember one of the documents, "Protect and Survive", lean a sheet of plasterboard up against the wall and hide under it. As the Government doesn't seem bothered about people having somewhere to live or being able to afford a place to live, I cant see them hatching or having plans, to try and save ours asses, just their own.

I can summarise the protect and survive booklet from last time:

• put mattresses against the window
• use a bucket and chair with a hole in to make a toilet.
• label dead bodies. If no help arrrives within 1 week, bury the bodies.

That was it. Not exactly reassuring.

Imagine surviving it all only to realise that the next generation's gene pool would be made up from Priti Patel, BJ etc.

That prospect alone is enough reason for me to get a shitload of sleeping pills off Ebay just in case.

@notimagain

But I wondered if the government have prepared for the eventuality.

Of course they have..as others have mentioned upthread there will have been a standing plan in place since the late 1940s/very early 1950s, copies distributed and held secure in various places around the country.

The much more important questions are:

1. When was it last reviewed and when were any revisions made to it (cf. pandemic planning)?

1. Will the plan make a scrap of difference in the event the worse happens?

Yes, this. My XH was a police officer and back in the 80s I remember him having a supposedly secret book of what the police would have to do in the event of a nuclear attack. I was told that as a police officer's family member there would be a place for me in the bunker. Those bunkers must still be there, though I doubt they have been maintained in the way they were back in the 70s and 80s

As we have a nuclear power station 12 miles away. Nuclear submarine factory 30 miles away and a nuclear repossessing plant 50 miles away we’re fucked.

Bah - I have my own plan! 20 minutes warning apparently? So, long enough to make a cheese and cucumber sarnie, duct tape fireworks to myself and get to the beach opposite Southampton docks with a deckchair and large bottle of rum. I'm going out in a blaze of glory, sod whatever the council or government decide from their bunkers!

@AlternativePerspective

Well, in the event of a nuclear attack you should adopt the brace position:

Lean forward, put your head between your legs and kiss your arse goodbye.

This really cheered me up! Thank god for gallows humour!

Even if they did provide a bunker and the vague hope you survived what would you be surviving into no thanks I shall adopt the aforementioned brace position :-)

Oh forgot the fighter Jet factory 50 miles in the other direction.

I’ve still got my 1980s council issued nuclear attack leaflet. 😀

@ProfessionalChancer

Come on, give them some credit. They came up with ‘Hands, face, space’ didn’t they? I bet they have a lovely little rhyme all ready.

‘Hideout, Fallout, Eat out to Help out!’