It is chilling to see how the preparations to invade Iraq have gathered pace despite extra time for inspections. We are witnessing a situation where the most powerful country in the world has made clear its determination to wage war against Iraq with or without United Nations backing and whether or not the weapons inspectors find evidence of weapons of mass destruction.

A pre-emptive attack like this would set a new international precedent and has no basis in the UN charter. War on Iraq would be immoral, unjustifiable and illegal. It will make the world a much more dangerous place, causing more resentment and fuelling more terrorism. The victims, as always, will be the innocent civilians - the hundreds of thousands of men and women and particularly children - who have already suffered years of oppression and sanctions which have put them under the complete control of Saddam Hussein. There is already a humanitarian crisis in Iraq and now the people are threatened again. Peaceful means of solving the problems have not been properly explored let alone exhausted. It is tragic that if a fraction of the efforts by the US and UK to gain support for war had been put into bringing peace to the Middle East we would live in a much safer and peaceful world.

Britain has already announced the deployment of 30,000 troops to the region - the USA 130,000. They are being mobilised ready to attack. But opposition to this war is growing with every day that passes - by groups of people of all ages and from all walks of life. On 15th February there will be peace demonstrations around the world. And those of us elected by people in Europe can speak here on behalf of so many who are saying “no” to war. I have received many letters from Wales and other countries asking the European Parliament to do everything it can to try and stop this war.

Jill Evans MEP