What does COBRA stand for? … A major 'UK-wide action plan' to tackle coronavirus has been agreed following a COBRA meeting chaired by Boris Johnson.. COBRA is an acronym… sort of. PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson has called an emergency Cobra meeting for 5pm today to discuss how to combat coronavirus. Who attends the meetings?
For more details of these cookies and how to disable them, see our See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, Whenever there's a crisis in the UK, one thing that often swiftly follows is a Cobra meeting.To the public, a Cobra meeting is generally when members of the government meet to discuss the response to a given issue.That is largely the case, however there is a little more detail than that...Despite sounding as though it's named after a venomous breed of snake - which would be an appropriate metaphor given the purpose of the meetings - Cobra is actually an acronym for a series of rooms in the Cabinet Office in 70 Whitehall.You'll sometimes see it referred to as COBR, which stands for: Cabinet Office Briefing Room.The A is believed to stand for briefing room A, however it's unclear whether that's actually the case - room F was the most commonly-used when the meetings first began to take place.While Cobra does refer to that set of rooms in the Cabinet Office, the term is shorthand for the 'Civil Contingencies Committee', which is the group of people who meet inside the rooms to discuss various issues.When someone says "Cobra is meeting", what they actually mean is "members of the Civil Contingencies Committee are convening in the Cabinet Office".According to the Institute for Government, the term was born when an emergency situation centre was developed for the government to review its response to the the 1972 miners’ strike.Unlike a Cabinet meeting - where frontbenchers meet the prime minister - there is no rigid register for who should attend a Cobra meeting and not even The composition of any Cobra meeting depends on the issue that is to be discussed.According to the Institute for Government, it's usually made up of officials and agency personnel, alongside ministers, from relevant departments and agencies.For example, as the government discusses its response to the coronavirus outbreak, England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty attends.On the other hand, following a terror attack Mr Whitty would not attend, but perhaps the UK's top police officer, Met Commissioner Cressida Dick, would.The meetings are usually chaired by the most senior and most relevant minister in the room, plus the prime minister.So it's likely that Prime Minister Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock are chairing coronavirus Cobra meetings.The purpose of a Cobra meeting is to discuss high-level coordination and decision-making in the face of a crisis, according to the Institute for Government.The crisis could be a range of things, including natural disasters, terrorist attacks, major industrial accidents, and as coronavirus has demonstrated, threats to public health.Chairing a Cobra meeting is often a good way for a prime minister to demonstrate to the public how he or she has a grip on a situation but the relevant people will usually already have been making decisions well before a meeting is called.According to the Institute for Government, Cobra's purpose is to "keep ministers appraised of the situation, to ensure that the wider response of the government is coordinated, to record and disseminate key decisions and updates to all relevant ministers and officials, and to provide ministers and the prime minister with up to date information on the situation for any decisions that they may need to make".
COBRA meeting meaning: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been giving daily briefings on the coronavirus situation Queen coronavirus speech: When will the Queen address the nation?COBRA meeting meaning: The importance of social distancing Work from home: How long do we have to work from home?BBC coronavirus breakthrough: Major project for crucial vaccine startsFlights: Passenger shocks with extreme coronavirus protectionCOBRA meeting meaning: Ex-Prime Minister Theresa May speaking after a COBRA meeting in 2017 Morrisons opening hours: What time are Morrisons open for elderly?Greggs to shut due to coronavirus as bakery makes heartwarming gesture He then headed to Royal Free Hospital to meet with staff who are treating patients with the virus.The PM and Health Secretary thank the NHS staff and healthcare professionals for their tremendous work and dedication in responding to this.A war room will also be up and running in the Cabinet Office, bringing together communications experts from across government and the NHS to roll out the public information campaign and respond quickly to cross-cutting issues.Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. For example, one government response to the coronavirus outbreak in the UK is to hold more regular Cobra meetings.