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Cobra holds meetings amid fears winter crises are on way
Such is the scale of concern that the Cabinet was briefed on contingency plans for the months ahead
Cobra meetings have been held by Rishi Sunak’s new ministers and officials about fears overlapping crises could hit Britain this winter, The Telegraph has learned.
There are concerns in Whitehall that energy shortages, public sector strikes, NHS pressures, unexpected floods and a potential escalation in the Ukraine conflict could all occur at the same time.
"Stress test” preparations have been carried out in an attempt to improve the response should any of the worst case scenarios come about.
Some of the planning sessions have taken place in the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms, which in public have become known as Cobra meetings.
Cobra gatherings have become synonymous with the responses to terror attacks or other moments of major national crisis.
Such is the scale of concern about the winter ahead that the Cabinet was on Tuesday morning briefed on contingency planning for the months ahead.
Sunak: A challenging period is coming
Oliver Dowden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, took other front-benchers through the mitigation plans in the Downing Street gathering.
Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, also updated the Cabinet on the push to bring down NHS waiting lists, which continue to rise despite increasing government focus on the issue.
Mr Barclay said that before the Covid pandemic some 1,600 people were waiting more than 52 weeks for an operation but that has soared to a current level of more than 400,000.
Mr Sunak, who has now been in Number 10 for a month, emphasised how tough the coming months would be for the public in comments delivered at the meeting.
The weekly Cabinet meeting is held behind closed doors but an official readout circulated by Downing Street showed Mr Sunak had said a “challenging” period is approaching.
One line of the official summary read: “Looking ahead to winter, the Prime Minister said this would be a challenging period for the country caused by the aftershocks of the global pandemic and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.”
Cobra meetings got their name because the gatherings used to take place in Cabinet Office Briefing Room A. They became more common during the New Labour years.
More rail strikes to come
The issues being looked at as part of the Cabinet Office’s winter contingencies planning vary in likelihood and scale of potential disruption.
A host of public sector strikes have already been announced, with the rail union, RMT, on Tuesday announcing new 48-hour industrial action for dates in December and January.
The pressure on the NHS has been long identified as a major issue by successive Tory governments, with waiting times for a variety of services rising after Covid struck.
The situation in Ukraine and its impact on energy supply remains uncertain, with the UK Government standing square behind Kyiv in its battle against Russia.