Inside Cobra – Politico

Have you ever wondered about Cobra? Not the serpent or the installation of yoga – but the information room of the office Office A, the place in the heart of Whitehall where a very sensitive and critical government committee meets when a crisis strikes the United Kingdom

This week, the host Patrick Baker takes you within these mysterious meetings to discover how those responsible make crucial decisions – often on issues of life and death.

One of Cobra’s original architects, David Omand, who became director of the GCHQ spying agency, explains how the Munich Olympic Games Otations crisis sparked an alarm in the United Kingdom and underlined the need to build Cobra.

Lucy Fisher of the Financial Times explains how to access the secret bunker under the Ministry of Defense which would house his double in the event of a nuclear attack.

The former secretary of Tony Blair, Richard Wilson, described how he summoned what was a very busy Cobra on September 11, a day that exposed the vulnerabilities of the United Kingdom and led to quick changes to the British guide to manage terrorist attacks.

At a time of increased tensions, Susan Scholefield, former director of Cobra, remembers how the exercises and exercises became more common and how it was his work to ensure that the Pope was sure, monitoring his state visit to the British version of the situation room.

Former defense secretary Michael Fallon describes being in Cobra in response to several atrocities on British soil in 2017, and recalls how the ministers rushed to determine if other attacks were on the way. Fallon also reveals the person he would not trust to preside over a cobra meeting (or anything, really).

Katie Perrior, ex-10 comms chief under Theresa May, remembers rushing in Cobra after the attack on the Westminster bridge, in the middle of the fears that the parliament offices are not sure.

With the arrival of the pandemic, a totally different crisis, the emergency planner Lucy Easthope exhibits some of Cobra’s traps. Easthope, who co -founded the network after the disasters of the University of Durham, believes that too much accent is put on advanced nerve centers rather than a simple honesty, in the midst of crises for which ministers are generally not very well prepared.