I MUST apologise to Helen Donovan, (Unfair attack on Peter Luff, You Say, Friday, March 21) for my description of Mr Peter Luff MP and other local MPs as "gutless" over their stance on war with Iraq.

In the case of the local Tory MPs, I should have described them as "hypocritical".

People have short memories. Do they not remember the Scott Inquiry into the Arms to Iraq scandal, where the Tory Government was secretly arming Iraq against their own stated aims?

Do they not remember that, one month after Saddam Hussein gassed the Kurds, Britain was giving Saddam millions in further military aid?

Do they forget the Iraqi Supergun affair? Do they forget the Matrix Churchill affair, where directors of that company nearly went to jail for selling machine tools to Iraq?

Both local Tory MPs were in the party of government at that time. They should hang their heads in shame.

I make no apologies for Saddam Hussein, but I intend to fight my own war - and that's a war on the hypocrisy of many politicians who, for the sake of arms sales, allow such dictators to proliferate by selling them arms and then, when it suits their own political agenda, condemn them and cause many innocent deaths.

In case any New Labour MP thinks that my attack is aimed solely at the Tories, I will cite the case of the Hawk aircraft they sold to Suharto for the repression of the people of East Timor.

Hands up those people that think the war in Iraq will decrease terrorism.

Osama bin Laden must be laughing his head off. Bush and Blair are doing his job for him.

TERRY JAMES,

Drakes Broughton,

Worcestershire.