Government gears up bug plans

Leader of the House of Commons Margaret Beckett has announced the government's plans to help make sure the millennium period is bug-free.

A Government Millennium Centre is being established within the Cabinet Office to receive and assess information from UK infrastructure providers and from embassies abroad. Regular bulletins will be issued.

All departments already have contingency plans in place, and the system for sharing information has been tested.

Unlike Action 2000, which seems to be increasingly smug about Y2K preparedness, Mrs Beckett retains a sense of caution: "The fact is nobody can be absolutely sure what will happen as we enter the new millennium. It is only prudent, therefore, for the government to prepare for all eventualities."

Bizarrely, Mrs Beckett's press announcement includes a warning about the dangers of the weather, as well as the bug.

Elliott Chase