<strong>Jean Coussins</strong> says a cross-party Lords committee has been tasked with coming up with a plan to normalise resilience in our everyday livesYour editorial (<a href=”https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/01/the-guardian-view-on-britains-fragile-systems-when-global-shocks-hit-your-shopping-bill”>Britain’s fragile systems: when global shocks hit your shopping bill, 1 May) makes clear that the public need to be more fully informed about global threats and actively engaged in a national resilience plan. The UK remains dangerously exposed to external shocks, whether from cyber-attacks, extreme weather triggered by climate change, or hostile state interference with our democratic processes and critical national infrastructure.A cross-party <a href=”https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/832/national-resilience-committee/”>House of Lords special inquiry committee, which I chair, has been set up to examine national resilience. “Keep calm and carry on” doesn’t cut it: a plan for the 21st century needs to recognise the interconnectedness of threats: a cyber-attack can quickly escalate into power cuts, transport chaos, supply chain disruption and the collapse of public services. And this is not a case of “what if”: hybrid warfare emanating from Russia, China or Iran as cyber-attacks, disinformation or the sponsorship of proxy terrorist attacks is already commonplace. <a href=”https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/07/the-british-public-need-to-be-better-prepared-for-emergencies”>Continue reading…
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