{{short description|UK government facility for crisis meetings }} {{Use British English|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox room | name = Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms | image = File:UK Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR) Logo.png | caption = | location = Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall, London | country = United Kingdom | building = | purpose = Crisis management centre }} The '''Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms''' ('''COBR''') are meeting rooms in the Cabinet Office in London.<ref name=":0" /> These rooms are used for committees which co-ordinate the actions of government bodies in response to national or regional crises, or during overseas events with major implications for the UK. It is sometimes referred to as '''COBRA''' by media sources, and is pronounced "cobra".
== The facility == The Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms are a group of meeting rooms in the Cabinet Office at 70 Whitehall in London,{{cn|date=November 2025}} often used for different committees which co-ordinate the actions of bodies within the Government of the United Kingdom in response to instances of national or regional crisis, or during events abroad with major implications for the UK. It is often referred to as COBRA, although this is not an official term.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmhaff/117/117i.pdf | title=The Home Office's Response to Terrorist Attacks | work=The Stationery Office | date=26 January 2010 | access-date=25 February 2020| location=London |at= p. 5 chapter 2 |quote=COBRA is not an officially recognised term and will therefore not be found in official documents and evidence.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18958032 | title=London 2012: What exactly is a Cobra meeting? | work=BBC News | date=23 July 2012 | access-date=25 February 2020| first=Chris|last=Mason|author-link=Chris Mason (journalist)|quote='It sounds great but it stands for '''Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms''', so it's rather mundane,' reflects Lord O'Donnell.}}</ref> The reason for the different titles is unclear; it may have been confused with other meeting rooms in the Cabinet Office which are not part of the COBR facility.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/cobr-cobra |title=COBR (COBRA) |website=Institute for Government |date=23 January 2020| access-date=14 June 2025}}</ref>
[[File:Cabinet Office Briefing Room.jpg|thumb|Released in 2010 under the Freedom of Information Act 2000|alt=]]
A single photo of one of the rooms in COBR was released in 2010 in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/cobr|title=COBR – a Freedom of Information request to Cabinet Office|date=12 November 2010 |publisher=WhatDoTheyKnow}}</ref> In 2024 it was confirmed that this photograph remains valid, and that there have been no material changes to the layout.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-11-23 |title=COBRA Picture - a Freedom of Information request to Cabinet Office |url=https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/cobra_picture |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241230092253/https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/cobra_picture |archive-date=2024-12-30 |access-date=2026-02-14 |work=WhatDoTheyKnow |language=en}}</ref>
An episode of BBC Newscast was recorded in the COBR facility by Adam Fleming and Chris Mason, where they interviewed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden to discuss a national test of the UK emergency alert system. The episode was released in July 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Newscast - National Emergency Alert Test: Newscast In COBR - BBC Sounds |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0lnq5qm |access-date=2026-02-17 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref>
== The committees == The composition of a Cobra meeting depends on the nature of the situation.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/oct/21/Whitehall.uk|title=What is Cobra|work=The Guardian|access-date=15 September 2009 | location=London | date=21 October 2002 | first=Joey | last=Gardiner}}</ref>
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) is a sub-committee of COBR.<ref name="indep-sharman-sage">{{cite web |last1=Sharman |first1=Jon |title=Publishing Sage membership would 'increase public confidence' in government, agrees Whitty |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-sage-evidence-chris-whitty-public-members-a9482941.html |work=The Independent |access-date=25 April 2020 |date=23 April 2020}}</ref>
==The events== COBR meetings were created in the 1970s following the government's response to the 1972 miners' strike.<ref name=sr1>{{cite web |url=http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/features/sfs/file_9.htm | title=File 9: Central Government in War in the 1980s}}</ref><ref name=jw1>{{cite book |last1=Winterton|first1=Jonathan |last2=Winterton |first2=Ruth |title=Coal, Crisis, and Conflict: The 1984–85 Miners' Strike in Yorkshire |year=1989 |publisher=Manchester University Press |page=145 |isbn=9780719025488 }}</ref> The first COBR meeting then took place during the Munich massacre in the summer of 1972.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Haddon |first1=Catherine |last2=McAlary |first2=Patrick |title=COBR (COBRA) |url=https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/cobr-cobra |publisher=Institute for Government}}</ref> Other events that have led to meetings being convened include the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege, the September 11 attacks, the July 2015 presence of migrants in and around Calais,<ref name=dw1>{{cite news | url=http://www.dw.com/en/britain-calls-emergency-meeting-on-calais-migrants/a-18619447?maca=en-newsletter_en_bulletin-2097-html-newsletter | title=Britain calls emergency meeting on Calais migrants | work=Deutsche Welle | date=31 July 2015 | agency=Agence France-Presse | access-date=31 July 2015 | location=Berlin}}</ref> the COVID-19 pandemic,<ref>{{cite web |title=Coronavirus: UK to remain in 'containment' phase of response |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51796072 |website=BBC News |access-date=9 April 2025 |date=9 March 2020}}</ref> and the 2024 United Kingdom riots.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mackintosh |first1=Thomas |last2=Clarke-Billings |first2=Lucy |title=No 10 to hold emergency Cobra meeting after weekend of violence |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpwddpzyxpzo |website=BBC News |access-date=9 April 2025 |date=4 August 2024}}</ref>
==Criticisms== In 2009, former senior police officer Andy Hayman, who sat on a committee after the 7 July 2005 London bombings and at other intervals from 2005 to 2007, was highly critical of its "cumbersome, bureaucratic and overly political" workings in his book ''The Terrorist Hunters''.<ref name="Times I">{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/cobra-emergency-committee-slows-everything-down-j7v866w8dl8|title=Cobra emergency committee 'slows everything down'|last=O'Neil|first=Sean |date=22 June 2009|work=The Times|access-date=3 January 2010|location=London}}</ref>
== See also == * National Security Council * Civil Contingencies Secretariat * ''COBRA'' (British TV series) * Scottish Government Resilience Room, the emergency management centre used by the Scottish Government in Scotland to co–ordinate response in Scotland
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Cabinet Office}}
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Category:Emergency management in the United Kingdom Category:Cabinet Office (United Kingdom) Category:Individual rooms Category:National government buildings in London