Poison find: How real is the threat?

A seventh man has been arrested by anti-terrorist officers investigating the ricin find in London.

Police are still looking for at least two more people in connection with the discovery of the deadly poison in a north London flat.

Six men - understood to be north Africans - were arrested on Sunday and security experts are trying to establish if they have links to al-Qaeda.

Only small traces of ricin were found in the operation - launched after a tip-off - but there are concerns an amount of poison could have been made at the flat and has been moved.

Experts are investigating how much ricin was produced or spread around the country and whether it is in the hands of terrorists.

Tony Blair said the continued threat of international terrorism was "present and real and with us now and its potential is huge."

Is Tony Blair's alert alarmist or sensible? How do we balance panic and vigilance? Have you changed your everyday routine as a result of terror alerts?

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This Talking Point has now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

There is no sense at all in the suggestion that this discovery should increase support for a war on Iraq. On the contrary it should alert us to the dangers of fighting such a war. Regime change in Iraq will not make terrorist attacks against the UK less likely, indeed a war in Iraq is likely to provoke terrorists into attacking us. We need to recognise that while the actions of these terrorist groups are evil and unjustifiable, they are based on legitimate political concerns.
Jon, UK

The poison incident only proves how vulnerable we all are now. The Government is responsible for this in the way that they have positively welcomed thousands of people to enter the country. The sheer volume of asylum seekers have made it impossible to vet them all thus ensuring that the crime rate is soaring as is the terrorist threat. Surely, it is time that we actually toughen our position and make sure that we actually know who is living amongst us.
Jenny, UK

It seems rather convenient for the war mongers that this "threat" was unearthed at this time. My understanding is it is impossible to cook up a batch of ricin in the bath. You'd need a full scale facility to produce sufficient quantities to constitute a threat. But let's have panic on British streets to encourage the boys in the desert to put on a good show.
Nour Khalidi, UK

Rather than panicking and changing our routines we need to remain vigilant

Lauren, England

What is important here is that we as the general public can only do so much. Rather than panicking and changing our routines we just need to trust the law and remain vigilant. There are plenty of conspiracy theories about this - yes the timing is convenient for a war on Iraq but the fact remains we cannot afford to let these evil terrorists win, we have to continue with our general routine.
Lauren, England

We are being targeted because we are leaning too much to the USA and Bush's side. We should be more balanced and not so pro-American to reduce the threat to us.
Harry Lasiter, UK

To Harry Lasiter, UK: A fine stance! You just cave in against the person who threatens you the most, just to avoid risk, regardless of the principles they hold?
Paul B, Oxfordshire, UK

Those who think that we should appease those that hate us should for the sake of themselves and everybody else go away and live in a cave somewhere. Don't you people know what nearly happened to the UK and Europe nearly 60 years ago? Appeasement would have finished civilised, democratic Europe as we know it. Make no mistake, these terrorists want to kill you and your children. If you have any instincts of self preservation in you then stop blaming yourself and accept that evil is and has always been among us and always will be. We need to make sure we survive.
Richard White, UK

Not only do we have to look on helplessly whilst we are being dragged into a war nobody wants, now it is also rubbed in how powerless we are in our day to day life, because literally anyone is a potential terrorist with a weapon of mass destruction is his pocket. I am not alone, so how good a job is a government doing if people feel this exposed and unprotected?
Ed Karten, UK

Terrorism can never be eliminated

Nathan Andres, UK

When are the great educated, compassionate, understanding Westerners going to learn that terrorism can never be eliminated? Any person can launch an attack of grand proportions with the smallest of devices, with the smallest of knowledge. If we were to place more emphasis on justice, eliminating poverty, removal of double standards we would stand a better chance against people who hate us.
Nathan Andres, UK

I wonder if those people who find the ricin incident "staged" and "convenient" would have thought the same about threats to office workers in the World Trade Center or to clubbers in Bali. The threat is real enough. What I fail to understand is what the terrorists think they gain by their actions. Have New Yorkers stopped going to work? Have Australians stopped going on holiday? Is targeting innocent people the way to win respect for your cause?
Bryan, UK

The real problem is that we are being fed so much propaganda to make us believe that Saddam is just waiting to launch WW3. This is to soften us up so that George Dubbya and his friends can finish off his Daddy's war. How are we, the ordinary public, to know what is true any more?
David Lefever, England

If the population is to be told of every threat and how to deal with every poison then the terrorists are winning

Bob Barnes, England

The terrorists must love the support they get from the media - this news has caused people to change plans and has generally spread fear (a woman quoted on the news last night said she will not use public transport as a result of this being compared with the Tokyo gassing). If the population is to be told of every threat and how to deal with every poison then the terrorists are winning!
Bob Barnes, England

I think our biggest threat is still a suicide bomber on our tube system during rush hour.
Graham Pennells, UK

If this was a terrorist attack in the offing, I believe it could be a plot to target a certain group of people or someone high profile.
Emily Walsh, UK

We'll live our lives as we've always done, report suspicious packages and rely on the police

Jane, UK

Of course the threat is real, it's as real as the threat from IRA terrorists and as real as the threat of being hit by a bus. I'm 28 and I've never lived in a country where terrorism wasn't 'present and real'. We'll live our lives as we've always done, keep our eyes open, report suspicious packages and behaviour and rely on the police and anti-terrorist units who have plenty of experience in this area. The names change, the methods change, the faces change but terrorism is still terrorism.
Jane, UK

The alarmist reports in the media only serve to help terrorists in their aim to cause panic - I heard ricin being called a 'poison gas' on a radio station this morning, which it most definitely isn't.
Robert, Sheffield, UK

Blair's mendacious government has shot itself in the foot with its five years of constant spin and news manipulation. Now no-one believes a word they say!
Andy, England

The public should be educated

Doug, UK

I feel for the government on this one. They don't want to cause panic but the public should be educated in the symptoms and immediate action if poisoning is suspected. Part of the problem exists with our amazingly liberal view on punishment of serious crime.

I suggest that the government hammers home their point about not negotiating or bargaining with terrorists and reintroduces the death penalty for anyone convicted of the possession of toxic weapons. Human rights campaigners may disagree and I would ask them to justify why terrorists' rights should be more important than the general peace-keeping public.
Doug, UK

Castor beans as weapons of mass destruction! What will these evil terrorists think of next?
Dan, UK

The story is plausible

Alastair Scott, London

Despite what some other people think the story is plausible - many plant-based poisons are relatively easy to extract from the raw material with simple equipment and there is little risk to the extractor and no problem with storage, unlike methods which produce poisonous gases. However, turning a probably grossly impure chemical into a weapon is quite another matter, and the people involved may well never have succeeded.
Alastair Scott, London, UK

Tell the public everything, the British people don't panic that easily.
Gerry , Scotland

This story should not have even been publicised - sheer sensationalism by the press. Only when the real facts are available should we hear about it.
Nick S, UK

It seems too staged to me

Jayne, UK

A very convenient find, just as Tony Blair is preparing for war! Maybe I'm being very cynical, but it just seems too staged to me: a small amount, not enough to cause a major immediate panic, but just enough to justify the war on terrorism to the general public. No, I'm not convinced by this at all.
Jayne, UK

The threat is real but not as significant as anthrax or any other airborne threat. I believe the ricin was destined for some particular food or drink source in the city, where a limited number of selected people could be infected before the supply was discovered.
Chris R, UK

I believe the media is making a bigger deal about this than it really is. I refuse to let it interfere with my everyday life.
Nathalie, London

Ricin is not suitable for mass poisonings but is used in small scale operations, more the domain of MI5 or the CIA than Bin Laden or Saddam. I think it hardly likely it would be the weapon of choice of terrorists looking to score a big hit.
Steve, UK

I think this is very significant. It shows just how close to home these people are, and the determination they have to cause panic, and indeed death! But my daily life will stay unchanged as I refuse to spend life worrying over something that may never happen.
Steve T, England

The timing of the story is the only interesting thing about it. The men were arrested on Sunday night, yet the story was only released on Tuesday ahead of another statement about international terror and an announcement about sending more troops to the Gulf. Will there be just as much coverage of the resulting charges against the men?
Garry Waddell, UK

No amount of vigilance can really stop a suicide terror threat

Godfrey Church, UK

Having thought the prime minister alarmist before, this latest threat certainly makes some sense. What if anything the government will be able to do about it is unknowable. No amount of vigilance can really stop a suicide terror threat, so I have made no change to my daily routine.
Godfrey Church, UK

It's simple politics: Public opinion is against the war against Iraq. The solution: Blow this story out of all proportion and make these tenuous links with Iraq. The level of irresponsible journalism on this has astounded me. It's spin in its most ugliest form. I doubt the story is even true, the timing is just too convenient.
Asif, London, UK

I don't see the logic of Tony Blair using this as an excuse to attack Iraq. Since the ricin was apparently found in the possession of Algerians in London, then if this is an excuse for war at all, shouldn't we either be bombing Algeria or London? I can't help thinking that the latter would ultimately do wonders for world peace.
Adam, UK