Panic Room, Prepper, Survivalism. UK.

It was reported, October 2025, that some tech billionaires began building luxury bunkers some years ago. Not always only one. If their family home is in one place, and their main workplace somewhere else, they are building two. Perhaps a third somewhere they holiday. Read a BBC article here.

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LOCAL THREATS.

Migrants rebelling about conditions. Right wing rebelling about migrants. Housing crisis. Insufficient police, doctors, nurses. Prices rising. Busier roads. Shoplifting. Fires. Floods. AI. Violent youngsters rioting for fun.

EUROPE THREATS.

Europe and the EU are running out of money, having sent it all to China to buy consumables, electric cars, batteries, solar panels, and soon robots as well.

Billionaires and young achievers have left to live where they pay less tax, so Europe is getting a lot less in tax revenues but the demand for services hasn't changed, meaning public funds are not coping.

France has riots because not everyone can be given all they want. Young in other European countries are getting rebelious as well. And in India, the Cockroach Movement.

GLOBAL THREATS.

Climate change, pollution, lack of space, lack of water, and so on. As early as 2019, academics published research we humans could be causing our own extinction. MIT News. Breaching a "carbon threshold" could lead to mass extinction.

This would be why Russia, China or Trump/Musk/Bezos deciding the way to save
some humans beyond the forecasts is to eliminate 90% of humans now.

Estimates humans will cause their own extinction have ranged from 250 years to 450 years. To be extinct in 250 years extinction in some areas must have already begun.
E.g. from conflict: Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. Sudan and DR Congo. Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia. Myanmar. Ukraine.

Many of the same countries, though not the last two, have severe shortages of water. So does Iran and parts of India.
Ukraine is suffering reduced power from Russian drones and expects a cold winter.

These problems make people move into already crowded but safer areas - which become over-crowded and less safe - including the UK. That's why they leave their sick and elderly behind to their fate, e.g. Ukraine, Sudan and Syria. Unable to make the journey, left behind without food, power or healthcare.

If you want to avoid the problems that are causing disatisfaction amongst the poorer in the UK, you need to begin long before conditions get too bad and you can't get materials.

SUPPLIES ARE NECESSARY WHETHER IT IS YOU PROTECTING YOUR FAMILY, OR RUSSIA, TRUMP/MUSK OR CHINA AGREEING TO SAVE 300,000 EACH AND KILLING THE REST.

THE QUESTION MIGHT NOT BE IF OR WHEN, BUT WHETHER THEY COLLABORATE OR COMPETE?

We won the second world war largely because USA kept us in money and vital supplies. But if Trump and Putin get together, will China join them? In which case, will anyone lend us any money or send us any supplies?

Killer drones patrolling the remains. Powered by Musk's Starlink and enhanced by US's Starshield. Already up in low orbit. Already capable. Already assisting drones to kill in Ukraine.

More of these global internet satellite systems have been started by Russia, Ukraine, China, and perhaps others such as India.

Trump said, July 23rd 2025, whoever wins AI, wins, framing the global artificial intelligence race - specifically against China - as a winner-take-all geopolitical and economic contest.

New York Times 26th October 2026: Anthropic Reveals 14-Fold Increase in Growth as It Prepares for Blockbuster I.P.O.

BBC News. Same Day: Anthropic warns of catastrophic risk to humankind from AI.

Traditionally, Europe has been far wealthier than Russia. But Russia and USA combined against Europe? Trump will sell this as MAGA. Make America Great Again.

And, obviously, Trump has labelled the risk to humankind - along with global warning - as a hoax. But does he really? Will he use Anthropic and Space X's Starlink to solve the problem by helping Europe to be the first area extinct of humans?

China is likely to watch and not get too involved. Not take sides (except expand into the South China Seas while no one is looking).

Does that frighten you?

It may already be reasonable to suggest that you just go ahead and build your basement now while you can still get materials. Never mind about planning permission or a party wall agreement. This is urgent and you won't be the only one. When there are huge gangs on the streets, bureacracy and enforcement will be too tied up to really bother you.

There is specific building advice lower down, as well as this whole website mostly being devoted to you building your basement that will never leak. Put a waterproof, reinforced concrete lid on top, then some soil and grass, to be a bomb shelter as well.

Update 23rd October 2026.

What just happened in France could happen here.

Basically, those who lent France money are worried about getting paid back. Some sold their debt (bonds) at a discount preferring to get some money back now rather than none at all in the future.

This means France cannot continue to borrow to maintain its living standard which young people already think is not good enough, and mobs have made use of the demonstrations to loot shops and burn vehicles. Organised crime will be looking into opportunities.

Macron came to power promising that lowering taxes would bring in investment, create jobs, and bring in greater tax receipts. But it didn't work. It won't work in the UK either.

Rachel Reeves lowered stamp duty thresholds to raise more money, but house sales collapsed, meaning less money was raised, not more. Governments in Europe cannot raise more in taxation. Raising taxes backfires. AI finds people tax loopholes and tax havens to move to. Spending must be cut, especially welfare because it is huge.

Those on welfare think they deserve it and they will be out on the streets as well.

Anarchy.

Add to that concerns Russia's continuing cyber attacks will one day crash our food distribution system. Wes Streeting tells us daily to stock up on food. Russia is also preparing to cut undersea cables and pipelines; and possibly team up with other autocracies - which would include China and might even include Trump's USA according to The Economist.

Cutting the world population to almost zero outside Russia, China and USA would mean 2 billion people not 8.3. China would also cut its muslim population, I think. Perhaps 1.5 billion will be left. In three zones separated by vast distances where they need not depend upon or trouble each other.

AI will help them enormously with their genocide and avoid their troops having to witness any slaughter, except on a screen far removed.

What else is AI doing to us?

Wealthy companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, Nvidia and SoftBank; and institutions like Horowitz, MGX; and individuals like Larry Ellison, Sam Altman, Musk and Zuckerberg
all pay close to zero tax because earnings reinvested in capital, such as AI, are not taxable.

AI finds weaknesses if tasked to do so. A Google search just now responded 225 billion hostile signals per day. Some get through. AI will make them better at getting through firewalls. You can be certain that Russia and other autocratic states are behind a lot of the attacks.

AI can design pandemic germs. So someone somewhere is trying to do that.

People now use AI to reduce their tax bill. Over a dozen billionaires have left the UK. About a quarter of a million achievers left the UK for the Gulf states where they pay no tax. Tax revenues throughout Europe are falling because AI finds people tax loopholes faster than governments can react.

Britain, Germany, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Italy are all under increasing strain.

Kemi Badenoch recently said in a speech she will find a way to raise more money without house values falling. How is that possible?

INFLATION.

The value of savings eroded. The value of tax receipts eroded. But the cost in value of paying back debt a little easier - whether mortgage debt or national debt.

The day we become sitting ducks, with millions of autocrat drones roaming the skies across Europe killing every human detected may be alarmingly close.

At the very least, you might consider an air raid shelter.

Small pockets of humans will be allowed to continue to live when finding the remnants becomes unrealistic. Remote smallholdings and small communities will be permitted - unless and until they become troublesome.

A basement bunker will survive even if the house above is swept away.

The USA is the world's biggest polluter and the current executive is unmoved by the causes of LA fires and stronger hurricanes. They seem willing to forego even some of their own people. And they are locking down to become more self-sufficient - with tariffs and ending foreign aid. The USA doesn't want to rely on any other part of the world. Or to have millions of illegal immigrants eating its food. Or to give any more money away.

If the rest of the West are gone, then relatively speaking America will have been Made Great Again.

China has everything except the best computer chips (currently). Much lower costs. Better AI. Better batteries. Better innovation. And a track record of ignoring and locking-up parts of its population as well. It already imports very little, except oil (which it is replacing very quickly with solar panels).

With nearly 7 billion gone the remaining 1.5 billion can continue to pollute because the rest of the world will become forest and clean up their mess.

Obviously, there is something of a race. Trump, Musk and Bezos all have space craft, AI, and huge resources. So does China (which also has most of the drones, and might have the way in to shut down critical software the world over when it strikes - especially if it is the first to make working quantum computers). Putin will relish the power genocide will give him. He lost a million troops in Ukraine. Just a statistic.

A couple of years ago, AI learned how to fly a fighter jet and defeat an experienced air force pilot in only 48 hours. It made decisions a thousand times faster than the pilot. That enabled AI to perform manoeuvres beyond the ability of the human. And that was two years ago.

Google has worked with universities to speed up research and development in science. They are reporting years of work by scientists can be undertaken, perhaps even better, by AI in hours.

AI and drones will win against humans and destroy every city population they target. I just don't know when, but there seems little to stop it and a lot to start it. The countries using drones against us won't destroy everyone. They will still want to be able to buy some fresh food, continue mining rare earth metals and refine crude oil. That might mean slavery again. Pockets of people will survive and continue where the drones aren't looking to kill; only looking to make them obey and be worked to death.

Different sides, possibly the billionaires rather than governments, will already be gearing up with AI and hardware. And safe places to live in comfort till the dust settles.

Whether you think the problems we will face will be occasional: civil unrest, looting and so on; or last a long time with Chinese AI drones filling the sky piloted by Russians ...

I personally think that everyone will face some threat or other.

The survivors will be those who had somewhere well stocked and secure to hide prepared in good time.

You want it built well. Dry without a pump. Insulated enough not to require heating. Stocked with food and water. It might be fully ready for years before you actually hide yourselves in it. Perhaps it will be a gym and cinema with storage behind closed doors full of provisions.

Panic Room, Prepper and Survivalism are the idea that it is important to prepare for future events that will seriously and adversely affect your lives.

Instinct is extremely powerful. Hunger gives us the urge to eat. Tiredness the urge to sleep somewhere secure. Ultimately, instinct says fight to the death. Kill rather than be killed.

A return to how things were. European tribes continually attacking other tribes. Raping and taking their wealth and slaves to do the hard work. Ditto Vikings and Saxons attacking England, and Genghis Khan, The Ottoman empire, Putin, Israel.

What will China do with the largest military in the world and its military expansion into the South China Sea? BBC report September 2025.

Communities under stress will send their young men out to raid for the benefit of their group.

Warfare is like that. We give our heroes a medal, because they face danger stealing from communities just as desperate to survive themselves.

When the stores have been ransacked and left empty, the homeless and hungry will look at the fine houses not far away for provisions and security. Having 'disposed of' or evicted the owners, they will fill their bellies then compete for nice cars and fine clothes.

Whether you need to protect your family from immigrants, protesters, or thieves, you could be worried that a mob will come after what you have, possibly harming your family in the process.

Who will survive this mayhem?

The most wealthy, of course.

I took this Gaffco Safe Room image from an article called What Is a Safe Room here.

I am surprised it shows the door opening outwards. I read somewhere it needs to open inwards to make it harder for an intruder to barricade you in then leave you trapped. But perhaps it is just a secret panel and you could remove it inwards as well.

Prepper Survivalism UK

You might include your own petrol generator in case of power cuts. You would not want that petrol generator running all the time you had no mains power just to keep your basement pumping out leaked water, because you need to preserve your petrol supplies.

That is why the Basement Expert is essential to your preparations to survive.

The Basement Expert. Your basement totally dry from the concrete alone.

The remaining question is, do you want 25 square metres as in the example above, or 1,000 square metres to keep a small community going for many years, Terminator-style?

Yes, I already have a serious enquiry for a basement of 1000m². The client wants a big basement, two storeys deep, under his double garage and turning area. Plus replace his big house with a new house and two storeys of basement beneath that. And a connecting corridor two storeys deep with one storey of soil on top of it.

I had several enquiries recently from people who want a basement in their garden covered in thick soil. A new idea. Are these to be genuine nuclear bunkers with increased protection from nuclear fallout?

What might be shown as a swimming pool on a planning application today, might later be your reservoir of drinking water to last 20 people several years.

YOU DON'T HAVE LONG. A NEW BASEMENT COULD NOT BE BUILT ABSOLUTELY WATERPROOF AND TO LAST SEVERAL CENTURIES WITHOUT CEMENT. IF GOVERNMENT OR A LACK OF ENERGY STOP CEMENT PRODUCTION, YOU ARE TOO LATE.

You might conclude that building a basement with my help looks a very much better idea than having a basement built to the usual poorer standards of the British Construction Industry.

Building safety group baffled and disappointed as it tears into developers still building to old standards.

You get more consumer protection when you buy a washing machine than when you buy your own home - Michael Gove.

At the Bau exhibition in Munich 2023 I found that survivalism was already on the agenda. You might like to follow this link and search yourself for more suppliers. Kolomaki, Czechia.

Building a basement for a Safe Room might be what you consider necessary to do what you can to avoid being a family fleeing with only what they can carry.

What does history tell us we should expect?

A few unpleasant lines from a book 'Sapiens. A brief history of mankind', 2011, by Yuval Noah Harari. From pages 58 and 59.

"pre-agricultural forager societies ... Periods of want and hardship were not uncommon, child mortality was high and an accident which would be minor today could easily become a death sentence. ... those unfortunates who incurred the hostility or mockery of their fellow band members probably suffered terribly. Modern foragers occasionally abandon and even kill old or disabled people who cannot keep up with the band. Unwanted children may be slain,"

To survive a complete break down of law and order, you will need to be stronger than the mobs.

The easiest way to be stronger is to be well fed and well rested in your secure accommodation as the mobs outside run out of food and lose a lot of sleep fighting each other, before coming for you.

I read, again, The Shortest History of England by James Hawes (2021) to list when the educated elite had treated the poor extremely badly. The answer is most of the last 1,000 years. All but the 70 years of the welfare state.

When the Romans first arrived, the SE of England had already been replaced by Gaul-ish people. the N by Germanic people, and the W by Iberian people. After the Romans, the Angles from Denmark pushed into England. Invaders subjugate those they don't slaughter.

1066 and the Normans began enclosing land for themselves, and the Domesday book, 20 years later, has the first mention of slaves. Soldiers made the peasants work for the new landowner who had stolen their common land and fields by force. Liberty was never as great again.

In 1547, The boy king Edward VI came to the throne aged 9. His 'Protector' introduced a new work ethic. Anyone not in work for 3 days had to do any work offered and only for food. Otherwise the would-be employer could enslave them for 2 years "and cause the said Slave by beating, chaining, or otherwise in such work and Labour how vile so ever it be". State-disciplined Protestantism.

Then Mary, Roman Catholic, became queen and hundreds of protestants were burned.

The industrial revolution saw the ruthless crushing of English peasantry, forcing them to work 80 hours a week in cities, with very little food available, and in concentrations of misery - so awful that urban-born men were shorter than rural-born men.

New wealthy were making money from trade, and the new wealthy sent their sons to private schools. The educated elite grew in numbers by exploiting the poor.

When Victoria came to the throne, the English visited other lands and forced ancient cultures to change. More theft and more exploitation.

I could also list all the rebellions. All of which were put down with public hanging, public throat cutting and anything else so harsh rebellion stopped instantly.

The point, I think, is that the poor will not rely on the charity of the elite when things get worse than they are now. Because the elite won't be that generous while supplies are no longer replenished.

When the poor and hungry suffer intolerably, and their numbers are huge and the potential reward of taking over a nice house and everything in it so great, they will invade.

If you have neither the weapons nor security services to put them down they will kill you.

New communities without rich, without old people, without disabled, and without those who stand out as different will emerge - unless the wealthy fortify themselves first.

You may not have a lot of time.

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