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On Prime Ministers not chairing Cobra. No, sometimes they don’t.
Page 1 of a Google search “Cameron chairs cobra” tells us that he chaired Cobra meeting on the migrant crisis, riots, IS, the kidnapping of a British tourist, the Malaysian Airlines crash & the Brussels attacks.
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Page 1 of a Google search “Cameron chairs cobra” tells us that he chaired Cobra meeting on the migrant crisis, riots, IS, the kidnapping of a British tourist, the Malaysian Airlines crash & the Brussels attacks.
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“Theresa May chairs COBRA” brings us the news that she chaired it on the Iranian seizure of a British Tanker.
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Googling “Gordon Brown chairs Cobra” informs us that he chaired COBRA meetings on the Glasgow Airport terror attacks and foot and mouth.
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So, yes, senior ministers do often chair COBRA, but less than 10 minutes of research tells us that in times of crisis the last 3 PMs have chosen to chair the meetings themselves, including cutting short holidays to do so.
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Because they considered the crises in question to be serious enough to warrant the PM being there.
The question is not whether the PM always chairs COBRA, but why Johnson didn’t think COVID-19 was serious enough for him to.
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The question is not whether the PM always chairs COBRA, but why Johnson didn’t think COVID-19 was serious enough for him to.
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