John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, described it as press elaboration.But there remains concern about a possible chemical attack and safety measures have been introduced, including the creation of a national stockpile of drugs and medical equipment to deal with anthrax, smallpox or exposure to radiation.Emergency services have been overhauled. Hospitals will have 300 mobile decontamination units and 8,000 protective suits for use in terrorist attacks. Rapid response units are on stand-by to respond to emergencies or reports of suspicious packages. They include police officers trained in dealing with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks.Japanese subway attack killed 12 with a Nazi nerve gas A powerful nerve gas developed by the Nazis was used in the most deadly terror attack on an underground railway.Seven years ago, members of a Japanese religious cult alerted the world to the horror of such attacks when they released sarin on the Tokyo subway. The Aum Shinrikyo members left small perforated bags of sarin in subway terminals so that the gas would seep out during the rush hour.Twelve people were killed and about 5,000 people were treated for exposure to the gas.

The army was called in to decontaminate five trains and 16 stations.Also in 1995, there were several attempted cyanide attacks in Japanese underground stations. In one, a caretaker found a device that would have released cyanide gas at a lavatory in Kayabacho station, near the Tokyo Stock Exchange No one was hurt. Weapons experts said there was enough cyanide to kill 14,000 people.Exposure to high levels of cyanide as a gas, liquid or white powder can result in skin irritation, headaches, dizziness, loss of co-ordination, nausea, vomiting, gasping, increased blood pressure, loss of consciousness and death.Cyanide smells like bitter almonds at dangerous levels. Earlier this month, Amaretto di Saronno called a halt to an advertising campaign in which its almond liqueur was wafted through the Tube, because of security fears that the smell was similar to cyanide.Sarin is estimated to be 26 times more deadly. It is colourless, odourless, tasteless and diffuses very rapidly.

The symptoms of sarin exposure include impaired vision, vomiting, headaches, drowsiness, convulsions and breathing difficulties. Sarin has been manufactured in Middle Eastern countries and was used during the Iran-Iraq war.. The former Tory cabinet minister Michael Portillo has called for reform of the monarchy to “ensure its relevance and place in the modern world”. He refused to say if the Tory leader was the right man to be in charge of the party.Although Labour MPs have repeatedly gone on record to attack the monarchy after the collapsed trial of the former royal butler Paul Burrell, no Tory MPs have ventured even a hint of criticism.But when he delivered the fifth Chatham Lecture at Trinity College, Mr Portillo said it was time to enter the debate about how to achieve a more modern Royal Family.

“The Conservative Party, which is inextricably committed to the monarchy, should be the party that is willing to discuss reforming the monarchy, and to making sure the British people are able to respect the institution,” he said. “We should be the party that ensures its place in the modern world.”Some Tory modernisers are understood to be keen on the idea of a Japanese-style “Office of the Monarchy”, staffed by civil servants instead of palace courtiers, to run the Royal Family’s affairs.In his lecture, “How Might the Right Right Itself?”, Mr Portillo said the public still sees the Tories as “a party that is divided”. He said: “The public is very unclear about what the party stands for.”When Mr Portillo was asked if Mr Duncan Smith was “the right man” to lead the party, he said: “I’m not going to answer any questions about personalities.”Mr Portillo said the Tories were changing, if only slowly. “The Labour Party had to display a neon sign to indicate that it had changed One of the ways it did that was the debate on Clause Four. They also did a lot of other things that were counter-intuitive.