There is not a single mention in the Budget of the government's new three-year "Be Ready" campaign to strengthen national resilience in the face of mounting threats (from severe weather to war). This feels like an oversight⬇️

🚨Chancellor @JohnHealey_MP confirms in his budget speech that he is "fully funding" the defence investment plan (that means finding the missing £4.7bn out to 2030). Some of this will be done through "capital reprioritisation". He doesn't specify what.

🚨 Three of the UK’s four nuclear deterrent submarines are out at sea, it is understood. It is not clear why but at least one of the boats will be armed with nuclear warheads and on routine patrol. An expert said one of the other Vanguard-class submarines would likely be working up to take over the patrol, while the third could be undergoing sea trials. The Ministry of Defence declined to comment. @larisamlbrown first broke this story in @thetimes The unusual deployment of most of the fleet indicates improved availability, which has been a problem for the Royal Navy’s submarine service in recent years. It will doubtless be noticed by the UK’s enemies.

The national resilience moment that very nearly barely happened: A huge amount of work has gone on behind the scenes to plan for the "Be Ready" rollout, which was first trailed during the dying days of Sir Keir Starmer's government. Andy Burnham inherited the project as well as leadership of the much-promised but minimally-delivered national conversation on defence. Yet he appears to have chosen not to speak out on the launch of the new readiness campaign despite its national significance. Even Dan Jarvis, the security minister, who is leading on resilience, stayed away from journalists on Thursday, instead just publishing his ministerial statement and sending out a written post on social media. This lacklustre approach was met privately with disappointment among members of the resilience community. The concern - rightly or wrongly - is that it creates the impression that preparing the country (every post code!) for the possibility of any crisis, up to and including war, is not a top priority for the government.