Papers consider ricin threat

Many of Wednesday's papers focus on the hunt for a quantity of deadly ricin as six men are questioned by police.

The Guardian reports a "desperate search", while the Daily Mail exclaims the country is on "red alert for a terror attack".

The Daily Mirror devotes seven pages to the story with a front page picture of an enormous skull-and-crossbones plastered over Britain... under the headline "It's Here".

The paper fears the worst, reporting a police view that "most of the deadly ricin is missing and in the hands of terrorists".

The Daily Express thinks the government's policy "to keep us in the dark about specific terrorist threats is endangering lives, not protecting them".

Weapon of disruption

But the Daily Telegraph adds a note of caution, pointing out ricin only has limited use as a weapon of mass destruction.

The paper explains that four tonnes of the chemical would be needed to kill half the population of a 40-square-mile city, compared with just one kilo of anthrax bacteria spores.

But the Telegraph thinks it could be used as a weapon of disruption. "If put in the water supply", the paper suggests, "it could bring a city's hospitals and emergency services to their knees".

The Financial Times appears to have spoken to more circumspect security officials who doubted whether any of the chemicals produced at the flat had been distributed in the UK or overseas.

The Telegraph says Downing Street has "slapped down" the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine for suggesting that some burglars should not be sent to prison.

The Sun predicts that Derry Irvine will receive a public rebuke during Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons.

Blistering attack

But the paper does not reserve its scorn for the Lord Chancellor on the issue.

Under the headline, "Snore-y party", the paper's editorial launches a blistering attack on the Conservatives, accusing them of ignoring the row.

"In the absence of any signs of life from the Tories", the Sun fumes, "it was left to Number 10 itself to condemn Irvine's nonsense".

The paper is appalled. "This apology for an opposition should be ashamed," it concludes.

But the confusion over government policy extends to other, more influential parts of the Cabinet table.

Tailored messages

The Independent tries to discover why Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon described as unhelpful comments by the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, that war against Iraq was now less likely.

The paper thinks "there are too many messages tailored to too many audiences to carry conviction".

It suggests Mr Straw was trying to soothe sceptics, while Mr Hoon wanted to maintain the pressure on Baghdad.

And it seems confusion in the upper echelons of government is not reserved to Whitehall.

The Times reports that the embattled Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, must have thought he was going to receive some welcome support from Fidel Castro when he got a phonecall apparently from his friend.

Instead he had a rather confusing conversation with the Cuban leader followed by a stream of abuse before the line went dead.

The Times explains that President Chavez was the victim of a rather elaborate prank played by two radio show hosts in Miami - hardly a welcome diversion from the national strike and demonstrations aimed at forcing him from power.