Sales of toilet roll and water have surged after the Government urged Brits to stockpile items in case of a national crisis.
asserted
Government → surge → crisis
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said it was 'encouraging' to see households stashing enough essentials such as water, tinned foods and bathroom products in the event of a natural disaster or crippling cyber-attack.
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households → say → disaster
But suppliers are concerned that the Be Ready campaign could encourage the kind of hoarding seen during Covid as shelves run bare and online retailers run out of stock.
uncertain
retailers → encourage → stock
On Amazon, essentials such as bottled water and toilet paper accounted for six of the top 20 most popular grocery products on Wednesday morning, while loo roll firms say they've seen sales soar.
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sales → account → morning
Serious Tissues, which makes toilet paper out of recycled paper, reported a 36 per cent uptick in sales in recent days, describing the increase as 'substantial'.
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paper → make → increase
Eco-friendly firm Bumboo also reported a 29 per cent increase in sales in the days after the Be Ready campaign began, compared with last month.
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campaign → report → month
Cheeky Panda, which sells toilet paper made of bamboo, says it has seen a 43 per cent uptick compared with this time last year.
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it → sell → time
But its co-founder Julia Chen has warned against 'pandemic-style' panic buying.
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Chen → warn → buying
A man carts several cases of bottled water through the car park at a Costco wholesaler in Manchester this morning
Empty pallets of bottled water at an Asda superstore in London on Tuesday.
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man → cart → Tuesday
Sales of essentials such as bottled water and toilet paper are soaring as Brits prepare for emergencies
Survival-style items such as 25 litre jerry cans, head torches, hand warmers and water purification tablets are topping bestseller lists on Amazon
She told The Telegraph: 'Having a little extra toilet paper in the cupboard is good planning, but there’s no need to stockpile months’ worth.'
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Having → soar → worth
Some bottled water brands and 40 varieties of Heinz, Baxters and M&S tinned soup were out of stock on Wednesday morning on online supermarket Ocado, which says it is working with suppliers to increase availability.
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it → tin → availability
And video footage of a Costco wholesale supermarket filmed on Monday showed shoppers piling their trolleys high with cases of bottled water and paper towels.
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shoppers → film → water
Sophie Akpati, 26, who filmed the footage, said the aisles for essential items were 'really full... you couldn't get by'.
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you → film → items
She added: 'I started filming as it started to get ridiculous.
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it → add → ?
I don't think it's necessary to do this.
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it → think → this
People were bulk buying water, tissues, paper towels and detergents.
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People → buy → water
'It was a crazy scene to see, I didn't expect it to be like this.'
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it → see → this
Asked about the threat of people stockpiling too much, Mr Streeting told BBC Newsnight earlier this week: 'It's encouraging that people are taking practical steps to be ready.
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people → ask → steps
'Having a few everyday essentials at home, from tinned food to torches, helps households prepare for disruption, whether that's flooding, power cuts or burst pipes.
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that → have → disruption
We can all play our part in making Britain more resilient.'
Large packs of own-brand loo roll running low at a Sainsbury's in King's Lynn, Norfolk today
Suppliers have warned against the kind of stockpiling seen during the Covid pandemic (pictured: bare shelves at a Sainsbury's in Cardiff in July 2021)
Brands of bottled water and toilet roll make up six of Amazon's top 20 bestselling grocery items
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Brands → play → items
The Be Ready campaign is encouraging people to stock up with 72 hours of supplies amid official growing concern about the climate, the UK's dependence on tech and hostile foreign actors.
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campaign → encourage → tech
Alongside food, water and loo roll, the campaign suggests Brits ensure they keep copies of essential documents such as their passport and physical cash in a safe place should digital payment systems or ATMs fail.
People have also been advised to invest in a wind-up FM radio and a power bank in case of power or internet failures, and to prepare a first aid kit.
Retailers such as Argos, B&M and Maplin reported significantly more demand for some of the essential products on the list.
Emergency items such as head torches, hand warmers, 25 litre jerry cans and water purification tablets also dominate some of the best-seller lists on Amazon.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the campaign had been launched at a prescient time, just as the UK weathered Storms Austen and Boelo.
It also came days after a critical flaw was exposed in PHP, a programming language which serves as a major backbone of much of the internet.
uncertain
which → suggest → internet
The BBC, Wikipedia, several local authorities and government websites around the world temporarily vanished as coders frantically applied fixes – highlighting how easily parts of the web could be compromised in a cyber-attack.
But the Government's attempt to deliver a measured and serious message descended into farce following comments by Housing Secretary Angela Rayner and Treasury minister James Murray.
Shoppers at a Costco wholesale supermarket were seen stacking cases of water onto trolleys on Monday after the Be Ready campaign launched
Others were seen heading to the tills with some of the essentials on the list, including hygiene supplies and toilet and kitchen roll
Several varieties of tinned soup showed as out of stock on Ocado in London on Wednesday morning.
uncertain
varieties → vanish → morning
The online supermarket says it is liaising with suppliers to keep its shelves full
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it → say → shelves
Rayner had joked at the Labour party conference last month that she would stash 'mascara, concealer, I don't know, a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, a tin of baked beans because you've gotta have some baked beans, and I like a good tin of custard as well so I think that'll keep me going for a while'.
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that → joke → while
The PM downplayed her comments, saying that alcohol should not be 'top of the list' – while also suggesting he would need to keep an emergency supply of Twiglets on hand.
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he → downplay → hand
Mr Burnham was seen tucking into the knobbly snack as he appeared on a charity edition of Gogglebox last week.
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he → see → Gogglebox
Elsewhere, Mr Murray admitted he was yet to follow the campaign's advice – telling BBC Breakfast that the only thing he keeps at home in ready supply is coffee.
'
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he → admit → supply
That's the one thing I never run out of - I had some of that earlier this morning,' he said.
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he → run → that
The minister doubled down when pressed, adding: 'I've got quite a lot of coffee in my house.
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I → double → house
I'm not going to pretend I've followed all that advice myself yet.'
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I → go → advice
Shops specialising in 'prepping' – the art of proactively preparing for natural disasters and, in extreme cases, societal collapse and nuclear war – say they have seen a massive uptick in trade since the campaign began.
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campaign → specialise → trade
Jack Brown, the owner of emergency food and survival tool retailer Sgt Prepper's, said he received a month of orders in 24 hours last week.
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he → say → hours
He told The Guardian: 'I thought my phone was glitching or being hacked with the number of orders coming in.'
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phone → tell → orders
Despite the surge in sales of essentials, the British Retail Consortium says food availability remains good and most stores retain healthy supplies.
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stores → say → supplies
The Aporia
