What happens inside a Cobra meeting, where UK officials hold crisis talks?
When there’s a major crisis in the UK, you may hear the name Cobra being mentioned in the news.
It sounds very ominous – and to a large extent it is, when you find out more about why Cobra meetings are held.
They’re essentially emergency briefings which are called when there’s a national or regional crisis, or during events abroad with major implications for the UK.
The name comes from where these meetings are held – in the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms, which can be abbreviated to COBR.
You might be able to tell where this is going – one of the rooms is designated the letter A, leading to the handy acronym Cobra.
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The rooms are located at 70 Whitehall, which is the Cabinet Office main headquarters just behind 10 Downing Street.
There has only been one – rather blurry – photo released of Briefing Room A, which was sent out after a Freedom of Information Request in 2010.
Those involved in briefings can include security and intelligence officials, civil servants, military chiefs, senior government ministers and leaders of emergency services, depending on what sort of crisis has taken place.
The Prime Minister will usually chair Cobra meetings, especially if the crisis at hand is more severe. However, this isn’t necessary, and another person can be nominated to chair.
It is roughly equivalent to the White House Situation Room, which became famous during the operation to kill Osama Bin Laden in 2011.
A meeting was first called to respond to the miners’ strike of 1972, and has since covered events including 7/7, the Paris attacks, the 2017 Westminster attacks, and the Covid pandemic.
Among the more recent Cobra meetings was prompted by the Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear sites last year, which led to the so-called Twelve-Day War.
Iran was to be the focus of a Cobra meeting again today, with Keir Starmer gathering ministers and officials to discuss the conflict in the Middle East.
Measures to keep fuel prices affordable and avoid an escalation in the cost-of-living crisis would likely be discussed.
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