As the war rages on for Russia and Ukraine. We are told time and time again that it is either very unlikely Russia would detonate a nuclear bomb on UK soil in fear of NATO's article 5 being triggered which would mean retaliation from all NATO allies and Mutual Assured Destruction. While this may be true, there is also a lot of skepticism and a feeling that the UK would be pressured to show restraint from retaliating to stop the situation from escalating further into other countries.

There are many articles detailing a high number of Nuclear bunkers in Russia both in private (built-in family homes) and also public (Moscow metro station) which means if there was any retaliation the Russian population would be far more prepared than the UK. Other countries such as Switzerland, Israel, and Finland also seem to have managed some sort of preparedness. After around 2 weeks it is believed that the radiation level will be only 2% higher than it was before. After all the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima are now both fully functioning after the devastating effect that Nuclear bombs caused on them. There are a small number of cold war bunkers scattered around but many have fallen into disrepair or become used for other purposes. We can however bet that our government has a nice hiding place while the rest of the population suffers.

This is why I am urging the government to either begin building some new bunkers or allow for councils and individuals to build their own government-issued shelters within guidelines set out but without the need for planning permission. There is very limited information online about what to do should such an emergency arise apart from hiding under the stairs, in the middle of a high rise, or in a cellar (cellars have not been routinely built since the 1960s in England). This may feel unnecessary for the moment but who knows what the future may hold. Countries such as Switzerland have bunkers for every single member of their population (just in case) and Israel has over a million private bomb shelters. I feel the time has come for us to also be prepared - just in case. Surely it is better for us to be prepared for anything than nothing in the hope that it "probably won't happen"