COBR Meeting 092003

[Jamie]

UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
Security Classification: TOP SECRET

An unexpected Declaration of War had caused great concern within the British Cabinet; specifically surrounding mainland France and the risks that the declaration has to bring conflict to Europe... again. In the absence of the Prime Minister, the meeting was held by First Secretary Peter Lyons.

First Secretary, Peter Lyons
"Thank you for joining me today. I think we all know the agenda so we'll dive right in. The Prime Minister is currently in Portugal for the Iberian Summit so I'm sure they'll be much to discuss there but as far as I'm concerned, we need to review our options. I spoke to Lawrence not long ago and we were in agreement that there are two concerns we should be focusing on. Firstly, mainland France. There's plenty of meetings going on about a unified Europe and I'm not suggesting we support France, as we don't know the full story, but Europe cannot afford another war close to home. The declaration posted by the Canadian Prime Minister leads us to believe any conflict will be related to its oversea territories. For as long as this is the case, we are recommending that the UK remains uninvolved, on either side. However, in the event of an invasion on mainland France, we feel that our intervention is paramount. If there's any truth to the funding of terrorism, the courts can handle. The key factor here is to ensure we're not witnessing bloodshed across the channel."

Justice Secretary, James Anderson
"Just to elaborate further, do you think Canada may pursue a war in Europe itself by attacking the mainland?"

First Secretary, Peter Lyons
"I wouldn't have contemplated the idea that Canada would declare war on France so I think there's a real possibility. We're going to try to get some answers on the real intention from Canada but we need to cover all our grounds. The other consideration is the security of our own oversea territories. Now, the justification presented by Canada suggests there actions are solely against France so we don't anticipate any issues there but it's better to be on the safe side. We already have an air wing and carrier strike group in North America but there missions may be changing. I'll let Jason inform us of those plans."

Defence Secretary, Jason Green
"I've had a few meetings since the declaration was made. At the moment we have the Royal Air Force based in America which was designated to support them via combat air patrols since the situation with Thailand. Suddenly, Thailand seems less important huh? The head of that operation is going to discuss this with our American counterparts to offer support; especially since the threat of war is a lot closer to home for them. Especially with their friendship with Canada. Until further notice, that air wing remains operational. We also have a Carrier Strike Group in North America, accompanied by the US and Poland. We need to have a conversation with them first but our intent is to move our CSG to our oversea territories there as reassurance. Other operations remain unchanged but the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force will be carrying out operations over and around the English Channel for our own security; this will be done in the form of patrols."

First Secretary, Peter Lyons
"Thank you for the update. We're at the point where at the moment where we hold our breath and see what happens. For the UK and France in terms of borders, they remain open and business continues as usual. I'll be personally speaking to the French Government to confirm that'll remain the case but I'm sure the next twenty four hours, we'll know a lot more."

The meeting continued for a further 3 hours.