Crisis Management
| Author | Peter Riddell |
| Published date | 01 April 2012 |
| Date | 01 April 2012 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-9066.2012.00094.x |
In this article, I explore the
political challenges posed by such
emergencies and the developing ad-
ministrative and legislative machin-
ery for handling them. Even outside
wartime, such emergencies can
threaten normal life: for instance,
the major strikes before and after
the First World War culminating
in the General Strike of 1926. The
‘respectable’ classes were alarmed at
the time, but the panics were usually
short-lived.
From Episode to Emergency
A common feature of emergencies
(see Box 2) has been the threat to
normal life: food supplies, homes or
travel. What turns these episodes
into emergencies is that the au-
thorities – central government or the
police – appear for a time not to be in
control, to be reacting to an unpre-
dictable and threatening unfolding of
events. The advent of mobile phones
and social networking sites has given
protesters a tactical advantage that
it is often hard for the authorities to
counter, as in the first two days of
the inner city riots in August 2011.
It is only by the overwhelming as-
sertion of state power – for instance,
proclaiming that London would be
flooded by several thousand more
policemen – plus a large element of
bluff that control can be reasserted.
These confrontations challenge the
assumption, perhaps the myth, at
Crisis Management
The origins of the current sys-
tem for handling emergencies
derives from both Cold War
planning and the challenges posed
by a spate of major strikes in the
early 1970s. Emergencies have fa-
miliar features: a slow initial official
response to an often isolated event;
confusion about what is happening;
well-publicised meetings of the
Government’s emergency manage-
ment committee (COBR, see Box
1); initially ineffective statements
by ministers on television; increas-
ing alarm; and then the resolution of
the crisis, and its rapid disappearance
from the headlines.
How a government handles emergencies – from terrorist attacks and natural disasters to strikes, riots and
epidemics – is a key test of its competence. Peter Riddell looks at the challenges that out-of-the-ordinary
events have posed to successive UK administrations and how the machinery for handling crises has changed.
the heart of modern representative
government that ministers and civil
servants both know what is happen-
ing and are able to protect the public.
As Dr Catherine Haddon of the
Institute for Government wrote after
a British Academy seminar on the
issue in 2010, the shortcomings of
contingency planning were exposed
by the first miners’ strike in Janu-
ary and February 1972, when the
country was days from the end of
coal-fired electricity generation and
authorities were slow both to realise
what was happening and to respond
appropriately. Subsequent reviews
led to the creation of a small ministe-
rial committee on Civil Contingencies
in the summer of 1972, backed by a
dedicated unit to service it. This met
in COBR and was integrated into the
same system as planning for nuclear
war. This machinery dealt both with
later industrial disputes, such as the
introduction of the three-day work-
ing week in December 1973, and
with events like the Iranian Embassy
siege in 1980. Its origins meant that
the Civil Contingencies unit had a
military feel that some feel helped
bring order to its proceedings.
The shortcomings of the 1970s’
system were exposed in 2000–01:
first by the fuel protests in September
2000, second by the foot and mouth
outbreak the following spring, and
third by the 9/11 attacks. As Lord
Wilson of Dinton, the then Cabinet
Secretary, told the BBC programme
Analysis in 2005:
Box 1 COBR: Myth and Mystique
Named after Cabinet Oce Brieng Room A in 70 Whitehall, COBRA is more cor-
rectly called COBR. It is here that ministers, civil servants, intelligence ocials and,
where appropriate, the police, external organisations and advisers meet to handle
emergencies. COBR is normally chaired by the senior minister present and attend-
ance varies depending on the cause of the crisis. The meeting takes place in a secure
room with video and audio links to display all information relevant to the situation.
The
authorities’
response – or
lack of – is
what turns an
event into an
emergency
Fuel protests in 2000 escalated quickly, bringing the UK to a
virtual standstill within a matter of days
Reuters
20 Political Insight
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