Every morning, on the way to my office, I walk past the entrance to the Cabinet Office’s emergency briefing rooms - more commonly known as COBR. This is where ministers and officials gather with leaders from the police and armed services to respond when a major crisis hits. That walk gives me a daily reminder that, above anything else I am doing that day, my first duty - and the first duty of any Government - is keeping people safe. We will always do everything we can to live up to that responsibility.
I am sure I don’t need to tell Mumsnetters that, no matter how much you plan, life can be unpredictable. The Government and emergency services spend a great deal of time planning for a whole range of crises and scenarios, but the reality is that it is impossible to stop every risk or threat from materialising.
What we can do is have effective measures in place to quickly warn people about a potential emergency situation ahead of time, whenever it’s possible to do so.
One of the most valuable, and powerful, tools for helping us do that is the Emergency Alerts system - which allows us to instantly send life-saving advice to every mobile phone across the country. We tested it two years ago on a national scale and next week we are going to test it again.
The reason for testing it is fairly simple: we have to know it will work when we need it. Every disaster is different, and the alert won't be a silver bullet for every situation. But in a crucial moment it could make all the difference between life and death.
We have already used the alert to get critical information rapidly to millions in a crisis. Alerts were sent to about 4.5 million people, in at least 28 areas of both Scotland and Northern Ireland, as Storm Éowyn approached in January this year. The month before, in December, 3.5 million people were warned ahead of Storm Darragh in south west England and Wales. And in February last year, a 500kg unexploded Second World War bomb found in a Plymouth back garden triggered a warning to some 50,000 phones.
Countries across the globe have similar measures in place - and test their systems regularly. In Japan they have a J-Alert, which warns people about everything from terrorism to weather events like typhoons or tsunamis. In Canada they test their alert system twice a year, in May and November.
We do understand there are a very small number of scenarios where someone might want to opt out of the test. Victims of domestic abuse, who might have a concealed phone to be able to contact friends and family without their abuser knowing, can opt out. And more details are available on the Government website, at https://www.gov.uk/alerts.
But for the overwhelming majority of the country, the test will be a bit like taking part in a national fire drill.
So at 3pm, on Sunday 7th September, listen out for a loud siren sound and remember: you don’t need to do anything. It’s a small test that could one day make a big difference.