Staying in or out (and no, we're not talking Europe here)

And so to the Stop the War public meeting in Oxford House last night. I think most people expected it to be in the theatre, but it was held in an upstairs room. There was a good turn out, with people having to stand at the sides.

John Biggs got his words in first and took a first batch of questions before running off to another event, leaving Oliur Rahman, the Respect candidate, and I to face the crowd.

Quite a few questioners were frustrated with Biggs' departure, not least because they wanted him to address many of their concerns. Just as well for him that he escaped, eh?

So it was left to me to take the brunt of a lot of disaffection, not least by the Lib Dems' stance to stay the course in Iraq with our and American troops to be put under a UN mandate and stay only until a truly sovereign Iraqi authority decides to dispense with us. The logic behind this is clear: we marched in and broke the place; whether we like it or not, we have a duty to make things right and provide security - although the Americans haven't really helped with their heavy-handed activities in Fallujah and the torture photos at Abu Ghraib.

But many at the meeting took issue with that stance; they want us to leave immediately. But as a friend so eloquently put it after the meeting came to a close, that's effectively what we've done in Afghanistan, leaving a token force in Kabul. As a result the Taliban is regrouping and warlords are vying for position elsewhere in the country. The seeds are being sown for civil war. Can we have that on our conscience if an early exit from Iraq delivered the same?

Another friend offered the suggestion that exit now would mean Islamic extremists using the opportunity to fill the vacuum and introduce something similar to the Iranian regime. A woman responded to that by saying if that was the will of the Iraqis then we should respect that. But is it? Do militias like al-Sadr or any of the Islamic extremists really represent Iraqi public opinion?

There were a number of out-and-out Respect supporters at the meeting, although I was informed that a few Labour voters were present - but probably didn't want to come out and say it.

All in all, it was a good experience - and a novel one too. As Lib Dems we're used to being ignored or put down by Labour and the Tories; but last night I was being lumped with them as the 'three big parties' who don't listen to people! Perhaps I should invite them along on our surveying and leafletting exercises!