Can we panic now?

DON’T PANIC! The enemy has anthrax, plague, botulism, poison gas, dirty bombs and ferries packed with TNT that make the Provisional IRA seem about as dangerous as Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells. But Mr Blair has announced that we should stay calm. Is he mad?

Last time, in 1997, I almost did panic. It was just after the weapons inspectors had unceremoniously left Iraq. The Daily Mail told us to expect hordes of Iraqi terrorists releasing anthrax from perfume bottles on the Underground. I was then, I suppose, terrified, as many are now. I had, I thought, good reason. Infections like anthrax and plague are directly within my field of professional interest. I knew what these bacteria could do. I was so worried, in fact, that I was about to evacuate my children to their grandmother for the duration – to the comparative safety of Belfast.

Then one morning I was cycling through Hyde Park, ruminating about who would really have inside knowledge on the real political, rather than medical, risks.