Following the invasion of Iraq by troops from the United States, Great Britain, Australia and other countries, the Guardian has asked your MPs to let the voters of Weaver Vale, Tatton, Eddisbury and Congleton constituencis know where they stand on the war in the Gulf.

MIKE HALL

WEAVER VALE

LAST week I voted for military action against Iraq. This is the most serious issue I have voted on in my 11 years as a Member of Parliament.

I would have preferred military action against Iraq to be backed by a fresh resolution of the United Nations but the French veto made that impossible.

I supported military action because Saddam Hussein was in material breach of United Nations Resolutions passed over the past 12 years demanding that Iraq should disarm.

I also voted for military action against Iraq because Saddam is an evil dictator and his regime has brutally subjugated ordinary Iraqis over many years.

The depth of his tyranny was brought home to me by two Iraqi Kurdish women I met recently.

They described in heart-breaking detail just how much suffering Hussein has caused his own people.

Saddam has killed two million Iraqis, forced four million into exile.

Thousands of his people are imprisoned, tortured and executed every year.

Thousands of children face death from malnutrition. He keeps his people in poverty with 60 per cent relying on food aid.

He has used his weapons of mass destruction on the Kurds, the Shi'as and the Marsh Arabs and these are his own people.

I am clear that Saddam Hussein needs to be dealt with.

To stand back and leave him in office condemns ordinary Iraqis to suffer indefinitely at the hands of this despot.

Now the military action is under way we must also prepare a massive humanitarian effort in Iraq.

Once Iraq is liberated we can begin its rebuilding and regeneration.

Central to this will be to use Iraq's natural resources for the benefit of Iraq.

Finally, I hope we can all unite and give our complete backing to our troops in action in Iraq at this most difficult time.