Friday 24 May 2013


Woolwich incident - government response

Statements from Prime Minister David Cameron, the Home Secretary and the Metropolitan Police about the death of a soldier in Woolwich.
The Prime Minister chaired a meeting of COBRA this morning (23 May) on the death of a serving soldier in Woolwich.
The fatal incident in south east London took place on 22 May.
The meeting, attended by senior figures in government and the Metropolitan Police, included an operational update from the police and agencies into the ongoing investigation and an update from the Ministry of Defence on security.
Following COBRA, the PM gave a statement outside Downing Street, where he outlined that “there is absolutely no justification for these acts” and that “confronting extremism is a job for us all”.
David Cameron thanked the police and security services, saluting their “incredible heroism,” and said they “will not rest until we know every single detail of what happened”.
He added:
This was not just an attack on Britain, and on the British way of life, it was also a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to this country. There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act.
He praised cub pack leader, Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, who confronted one of the suspects.
Concluding his statement the PM said:
One of the best ways of defeating terrorism is to go about our normal lives and that is what we shall all do.

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Thursday 23 May
Wednesday 22 May

What is COBRA?

The aim of COBRA is to provide effective decision-making and rapid coordination of the central government response to incidents, drawing on the resources of other government departments, including the security and intelligence agencies, the police and other relevant organisations.
The last time COBRA met was during the Algeria hostage crisis in January 2013.
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