Military Families Against the War held a moving lobby of parliament on Wednesday of last week. Relatives and friends – of serving soldiers and some of the 104 British soldiers who have died – laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in Whitehall.
They held a minute’s silence for all those killed in Iraq and demanded that the British troops be returned home.
Pam Hayward from Staffordshire told Socialist Worker, “My son has just come back from Iraq and will be posted there again or to Afghanistan later this year. The war should never have happened and soldiers should not be risking their lives in Iraq.
“They are not making anything better. Iraq is a mess. My son lost three friends in one day.”
Reg Keys, father of Tom Keys, a military policeman who died in Iraq, said, “It has been a successful lobby. We have met with a cross-section of MPs. Some said they were misled when they voted for the war.
“My son believed what we were told. I believed what we were told.
“We also handed a letter in to 10 Downing Street asking Tony Blair to meet bereaved families and face up to the consequences of his actions.
“This is one of those clubs that you don’t want more members of, because it means someone has lost a family member. But more and more of the relatives of the 104 British soldiers are joining us.
“We have aired our points. Events like today help keep the Iraq issue on the frontburner. It will not go away.”
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