Stockpile food – and wash your hands: is that really how to prepare for environmental catastrophe? | George Monbiot

<p>The UK state is dumping its responsibilities on our doorsteps, while green-lighting policies that lead us closer to crisis</p><p>Would you mind fixing the NHS? And while you’re at it, could you please build an anti-missile system in your garden? Then regulate the banks, replace the water mains, tax the very rich and use the proceeds to rebuild our schools. Well, come on people: what are you waiting for?</p><p>I exaggerate, but this isn’t very far from the approach taken by the government’s <a href="https://prepare.campaign.gov.uk/">Prepare campaign</a>. Crucial functions, way beyond the scope of individual action, are dumped on our doorsteps while those in power fail to act. As a result, our national resilience is <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/ba8011d3-37ba-4b8f-a900-f924a4a893db">arguably lower</a> than at any time since the second world war. At the Labour conference last week, <a href="https://labour.org.uk/updates/stories/andy-burnhams-speech-to-labour-party-conference-2026/">Andy Burnham promised</a> “a Britain where people feel the country has got their back again”. To make good on that pledge, he will have to change almost everything.</p><p>George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/08/stockpile-food-wash-hands-how-to-prepare-environmental-catastrophe">Continue reading...</a>