Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR) is a coordination facility of the government of the United Kingdom that is activated in cases of national or regional emergency or crisis, or during events abroad with major implications for the UK. It is also referred to as COBRA (or Cobra; see initialism), given that its meetings are held in conference room A of the Cabinet Office. ^[1] The term COBRA is used both for the actual facility, and for the Civil Contingencies Committee which meets there. Her Majestys Government, or when the Sovereign is male, His Majestys Government, abbreviated HMG or HM Government, is the formal title used by the Government of the United Kingdom. ... Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial letter or letters of words, such as NATO and XHTML, and are pronounced in a way that is distinct from the full pronunciation of what the letters stand for. ... The Civil Contingencies Committee is a British cabinet committee chaired by the Home Secretary. ...

COBR is situated in an undisclosed part of Whitehall, reportedly "a suite of offices within the Cabinet Office building".^[2] Physically it is a secure suite of rooms containing a bank of telephone lines, fax machines, computer terminals, video conference facilities, and other state of the art communication equipment. Its purpose is to enable the Prime Minister, senior Ministers, key government officials, and other critical persons (Metropolitan Police Commissioner, London Mayor, Director of the SAS and Intelligence Officials) to obtain vital information about an incident and to secure lines of communication to the police and other emergency services, army, hospitals, and all relevant branches of government. The chairmanship of COBR meetings depends on the nature of the incident or crisis. In times of immense national crisis it can invoke emergency powers such as suspending Parliament (with the consent of Her Majesty the Queen) or restricting movement within the country. ^[3] Whitehall, London, looking south towards the Houses of Parliament. ... The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet in progressing matters that require coordination across Government departments. ... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, in practice, the political leader of the United Kingdom. ... The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (usually just referred to as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner or, more colloquially, as the Met Commissioner) is the head of the Metropolitan Police Service in London. ... The Mayor of London is an elected politician in London, United Kingdom, who heads the Greater London Authority and is responsible for budgeting and strategic planning of some governmental functions across the whole of the region of London. ... The Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) is the principal special forces unit of the British Army. ... Type Bicameral Houses House of Commons House of Lords Speaker of the House of Commons The Right Honourable Michael Martin MP Lord Speaker Hélène Hayman, Baroness Hayman, PC Members 1377 (646 Commons, 731 Peers) Political groups (as of May 5, 2005 elections) Labour Party Conservative Party Liberal Democrats... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), born 21 April 1926, is the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda...

Incidents when COBR has been used

• COBR has been opened for crises such as the Kosovo War of 1999, the fuel protests of September 2000, and the 2001 UK foot and mouth crisis.

• COBR was opened for the 7 July 2005 London bombings, to coordinate the emergency response, with the Prime Minister flying directly from the G8 summit to chair a COBR meeting. It was also opened for the 21 July 2005 London bombings.

• COBR also met on 6 April 2006 in relation to the finding of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Fife.

• COBR met on several times on the night of 9/10 August 2006 (three confirmed) due to the foiling of an alleged plot to bring down several aircraft by the use of explosives.^[4]

• COBR met several times following the radioactive poisoning and death of Alexander Litvinenko, an ex-KGB agent who died on 23 November 2006.

• In 2007, COBR met for the first time during February to discuss the 2007 Bernard Matthews H5N1 outbreak.^[5]

• COBR convened again in response to the escalating crisis in the Middle East following the Iranian seizure of 15 Royal Navy personnel on 23 March 2007.^[6]

• On 29 May 2007, COBR met to discuss the kidnapping of five Britons from a finance ministry building in central Baghdad, Iraq.^[7]

• On 29 June 2007, COBR were summoned to discuss a suspected bomb plot in the heart of London, Piccadilly Circus.^[8]

• On 30 June 2007, Prime Minister Gordon Brown chaired two COBR meetings as a result of the London suspected bomb plot, and incident at Glasgow Airport.^[9]

• On 1 July 2007 to discuss the "critical" threat level in the UK due to 3 attempted terror attacks in the past days.

• On 2 July 2007, however, only officials attended this meeting. Ministers did not.

• On 22 July 2007, in response to the severe level of flooding across England.

The term Kosovo War or Kosovo Conflict is often used to describe two sequential and at times parallel armed conflicts (a civil war followed by an international war) in the southern Serbian province called Kosovo (officially Kosovo and Metohia), part of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. ... The term UK fuel protest refers to a series of protests held in the United Kingdom over the cost of petrol. ... Notice telling people to keep off the North York Moors. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Official G8 2005 Portrait. ... Wikinews has news related to: Four small explosions strike Londons transport system On 21 July 2005, four attempted bomb attacks disrupted part of Londons public transport system two weeks after the 7 July 2005 London bombings. ... is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as A(H5N1) or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the Influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species. ... Avian influenza (also known as bird flu, avian flu, influenzavirus A flu, type A flu, or genus A flu) is a flu (influenza) due to a type of influenza virus that is hosted by birds, but may infect several species of mammals. ... This article is about the area in Scotland. ... is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Police at the scene of one of the raids, on Forest Road, Walthamstow, London. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Radioactive decay is the process in which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting radiation in the form of particles or electromagnetic waves. ... Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko (Russian: ) (30 August 1962[1][2] – 23 November 2006) was a lieutenant-colonel in the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation and later a Russian dissident and writer. ... November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Map of the zones during the outbreak. ... Map of the Persian Gulf. ... is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year (150th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... On 29 June 2007, in London, two car bombs were discovered and disabled before they could be detonated. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, in practice, the political leader of the United Kingdom. ... For the Scottish rugby player, see Gordon Brown (rugby player). ... On 29 June 2007, in London, two car bombs were discovered and disabled before they could be detonated. ... It has been suggested that Mohammed Asha be merged into this article or section. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

COBR in fiction

COBR appears (as "COBRA") in Anthony Horowitz's young adult book series Alex Rider, in the fifth book Scorpia. It has also been mentioned numerous times in the BBC TV series Spooks. A mock COBRA was used during the fourth episode of The Amazing Mrs Pritchard after a plane crashed in Walthamstow. Anthony Horowitz (born April 5, 1955) is an English author and television scriptwriter. ... For the title character of the series, see Alex Rider (character). ... For the Three Stooges film, see Spooks!. Spooks is a British television drama series, produced by the independent production company Kudos for BBC One. ... The Amazing Mrs Pritchard was a British television programme produced by Kudos for BBC One. ... Walthamstow is a town in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, north east London, England. ...

See also

• Joint Intelligence Committee
• Defence & Overseas Secretariat
• Civil Contingencies Committee
• Military citadels under London
• Scottish Executive Emergency Room
• Other countries
  • French red plan
  • White House Situation Room (USA)

The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) was founded in 1936 as a sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence. ... A Secretariat in the UK Cabinet Office. ... The Civil Contingencies Committee is a British cabinet committee chaired by the Home Secretary. ... A number of military citadels exist under central London, dating mostly from the Second World War and the Cold War. ... The Scottish Executive Emergency Room (SEER) is a coordination facility of the Scottish Executive, part of the government of the United Kingdom, that is activated in cases of national or regional emergency or crisis, or during events abroad with major implications for the UK. SEER was recently held by Alex... The french red plan (plan rouge) is, in France, an emergency plan in case of an important number of causalties in a limited area; its aim is to organize the means of rescue to face this concentration of casualties. ... President Bush and Prime Minister Blair in White House Teleconferencing Room in the Situation Room Complex May 17 2007. ...

References

External links

• The Guardian: "What is Cobra?"
• 10 Downing Street Press Briefing following terrorist attacks in London