despatch box

Noun

dispatch box (plural dispatch boxes)

1. A box or case with a lock that is used for carrying dispatches (“important official messages”) and other documents.
   • Ministers are permitted to use ordinary lockable briefcases to transport information which has been classified 'Confidential' or below. For information with a higher security level (such as 'Secret') they are required to use dispatch boxes, which offer a higher level of security, and which are...2011 March 1, “FOI [Freedom of Information] Release: Red Boxes”, in Government of the United Kingdom, archived from the original on 08 Feb 2022

   Synonyms:

   dispatch case, ministerial box

2. (Commonwealth) A box that is placed on a table in a legislative debating chamber and used as a lectern for addressing the legislature.
   • It was about the only attempt at humour Raymond had made at the dispatch box that year, which may have been the reason so few members laughed.1984, Jeffrey Archer, chapter 29, in First Among Equals, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Linden Press/Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, part 6 (Party Leaders: 1988–1990), page 369