Ministers have accused the Tories of scaremongering over the Sars virus and said the public should not panic about its threat to Britain. She said the health service was well equipped to deal with the outbreak and rejected calls for screening, which she said would be “pointless” because people did not become contagious until they had symptoms.She said on Today on BBC Radio 4: “This is a very serious situation and I genuinely believe our response has been proportionate, responsible and effective. We have a very clear strategy: we want to make sure the public and the NHS have got the fullest possible information, we want to try and minimise travel to the affected areas, we are finding and reporting any suspected cases, we are following up their contacts and treating people appropriately in isolation.”The minister’s defence of government policy follows an accusation by Liam Fox, the shadow Health Secretary, that her strategy was “feeble, complacent and irresponsible.”All around the world Sars is causing immense alarm. Here, on the other hand, ministers’ conduct would make people think that nothing serious is going on,” Dr Fox said.Six people in Britain who are believed to have contracted the virus have now recovered and left hospital.The Liberal Democrats accused the Government of offering “inconsistent advice” on the Department of Health website and said it was “way behind the game.” Evan Harris, the party’s health spokes-man, called for a cross- government group to look at the outbreak. He attacked Tory calls to quarantine people without symptoms.”If you start restricting and threatening to incarcerate people who are healthy, some people won’t co-operate, will go underground and that will make it even riskier,” he said.”This is the first problem we have seen of this nature. If politicians are not reassured, then what I would consider irresponsible politicians like the Conservatives, who have a bad record on public health given their wrong stance on MMR, will stoke up public anxiety,” Dr Harris told the programme.His comments follow assurances by Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer, who insisted sufficient precautions were being taken.Ms Blears said that the small number of possible cases, and their recovery, was “evidence that our public health systems are really robust”.. Cherie Blair may be one of Britain’s most successful barristers, but she could not resist a free gift when she went on a shopping trip Down Under.

Mrs Blair left the Globe International store in Port Melbourne with clothes worth Aus$5,000 (£2,000), the Herald Sun, a Melbourne daily newspaper, reported.Most of the clothes were said to be for her children Nicky, 17, Kathryn, 15, and Leo, two, who were with their mother on the visit.The paper said the haul included jackets, sweaters, polo shirts, T-shirts, mini-skirts, jeans, shorts, belts and bags. Books, an alarm clock, a lunchbox, necklaces, a beach play-set, pillow cases, pyjamas, socks and boxer shorts were also listed.”We didn’t actively seek her to come down, which is what we have done with the likes of Robbie Williams,” Globe’s marketing manager, Anna Craig, told the paper. “It was more about an Australian company offering hospitality to the wife of the second most powerful man in the world. We did not single her out because we want her to wear the label. It was more a gesture to save her time and, though this may sound tacky, welcome her on behalf of Australia.” Ms Craig would not say whether Mrs Blair paid “I am not in a position to answer that.

That would be confidential,” she told the paper.Globe International’s labels, including Mooks and M-One-11, are popular with pop stars and young celebrities.The Melbourne-based label has dressed Robbie Williams, Nelly Furtado, Fatboy Slim and members of the band Blue. But Ms Craig said that she “really doubted that Cherie or Tony Blair would wear our labels” She added: “I think she did grab a few items for herself. But she has a stylist, so I don’t think she’ll be wearing Mooks in public.”A Downing Street spokesman declined to comment on the newspaper reports from Australia He said: “We are not saying anything. We do not speak for Mrs Blair.”The latest episode comes just months after the “Cheriegate” affair when Mrs Blair had to defend her links with an Australian conman, Peter Foster, after disclosures that he helped to negotiate her a discount on two flats in Bristol.Mrs Blair stunned onlookers at the Labour Party conference last year by touring stands collecting bags full of free samples, mugs and pens for her children.The Blairs have also been embroiled in more than one row over enjoying free holidays abroad. In 2001, the Egyptian government paid for the Blairs to fly from Cairo to a resort on the Red Sea where they stayed in two villas, at the Egyptian government’s expense. A beach was closed and a two-mile exclusion zone set up around the bay to keep out boats and other divers.In 1999, the Blairs donated a reported £3,000 to an Italian hospital after accepting the hospitality of the Tuscan regional government during their summer holiday..