Boris Johnson hasn’t held Cobra meeting over coronavirus since May

Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street (Photo by Ray Tang/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) - Credit: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Boris Johnson has not held a Cobra meeting since May, the mayor of London has revealed after he explained that the prime minister has not spoken to the politician since.

Sadiq Khan said that the last Cobra meeting, named after the meeting point of the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms, was held on Sunday, May 10.

The meetings bring together the prime minister with experts, politicians and leaders of Scotland, Wales and the mayor of the capital city, to take decisions in response to national emergencies.

Johnson was criticised earlier this year for missing five meetings of Cobra over the coronavirus, despite the infection first being reported in the UK in January.

Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Khan said it subsequently meant Johnson had not spoken to the mayor since the last meeting.


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Presenter Ben Shephard asked the mayor: ‘Can we just double check, you haven’t spoken to the prime minister personally since the tenth of May?’

Sadiq Khan replied: ‘No.

‘And I’ve written to him on a number of occasions lobbying on issues like this, but no.

‘My concern isn’t because of vanity, it’s I’m the mayor of a city with more than nine million people.’

It prompted fellow presenter Kate Garraway to brand the revelation as ‘extraordinary’.

Khan continued: ‘I think it’s for the prime minister to explain why that is.

‘I’m hoping it’s not because he’s playing petty party politics. I put aside party difference to work together with the government, as indeed Nicola Sturgeon (first minister) from Scotland and Mark Drakeford (first minister of Wales) had.

‘Our population [London] is greater than Scotland and Wales put together and some.

‘But also we’ve got four airports serving our city, we’ve got the Eurostar serving our city.

‘We contribute between a quarter and third of our country’s wealth, and if the government is keen for a recovery to be successful, they’ve really got to be working with us because it’s got to be a team effort.’