I HAVE never felt so ashamed to be British as I am today.

This war, in which bombs and Cruise missiles rain down indiscriminately on innocent civilians, is totally illegal. It is against Article 51 of the Atlantic Charter and even in contravention of Article One of the NATO Charter.

When these facts are pointed out - as by Tony Benn in Parliament - they are ignored and Tony Blair regurgitates the same nauseating hypocritical humanitarian justification. We are expected to believe that the constant bombing of Kosovo has nothing at all to do with the massive increase in refugees who - thanks to that bombing - will have no homes to return to.

Space prevents my detailing the massacre of 800,000 Rwandans, the plight of the Palestinians and, for the last 24 years, the suffering of the East Timorese, 200,000 of whom were massacred in an illegal occupation by Indonesia and who are still being killed and tortured with weapons supplied by Britain.

No mention has been made of the depleted uranium shells referred to by Elizabeth Tebbs in her recent letter which described so graphically their horrific effects. What comes next: tactical nuclear weapons?

Of course the "Three Wise Men", Blair, Robertson and Cook, have no knowledge of this, just as the media were unaware of the 2,000 anti-war demonstrators in London or the thousands throughout the country.

The strength of any party is in its ordinary members and I consider as friends scores of rank and file New Labour members and supporters. I beg them to use every means at their disposal to persuade this Government to work for a peaceful solution.

JIM HOMEWOOD,

Carr Avenue,

Prestwich.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.