Anthrax shield for MPs

A giant glass screen is being erected in the Commons to protect MPs against biological or chemical attack.

It follows a "highly alarming" security briefing which warned of a loophole in security arrangements which were designed to cope mainly with guns and bombs.

The fear, which is being taken seriously by parliamentary officials, is that a single terrorist could throw a bag of dangerous material, such as powdered anthrax spores, during a setpiece occasion when almost the entire Government is seated below the gallery.

Even a hoax attack where nothing more deadly than talcum powder was hurled could cause immense disruption.

"You can envisage a situation where the entire Cabinet has to be held in the Commons for decontamination for hours while the Government virtually stops business," said a senior source.

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