Labour MP quits anti-war grouping

Mr Barnes says the Iraqis should choose when coalition troops leave

One of the founders of a Labour group that opposed the invasion of Iraq has quit it, saying he now believes Allied troops should stay in the region.

Veteran Labour MP Harry Barnes has stepped down from Labour Against the War saying recent democratic elections in Iraq have changed his point of view.

He says the anti-war lobby offers a one sided view of life in Iraq with its endless repeats of casualty numbers.

But anti-war MP Alice Mahon says she fears Mr Barnes has been misled.

Stepping down

The 68-year-old has been MP for North-East Derbyshire since 1987 and plans to step down at the election.

Harry is an old friend and I am sorry he has gone, but I think he has been misled Alice Mahon Labour MP

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I joined Labour Against the War from the start and was on the original platform next to Tony Benn and fully supported action to stop the war - but things have moved and changed."

Mr Barnes said he could no longer support the anti-war movement's demands for Allied troops to withdraw from the region, insisting this should be a decision for the Iraqi people.

"The Iraqi people now have an avenue for expressing their opinion through their Parliament and the government that has been established," he said.

"The coalition should be there a little longer to hold the ring."

'Illegal invasion'

Mr Barnes accused his anti-war colleagues of only showing a "one-sided" view of life in Iraq, by endlessly repeating the 100,000 casualty estimate produced in an analysis of deaths caused by the conflict which was published in the academic journal The Lancet.

The elections took place on 30 January

"That analysis said it could be anything between 2,000 and 198,000," he said. "Some things are just over the top and simple-minded."

But Mrs Mahon, a Labour MP and staunch opponent of the war, accused Mr Barnes of accepting a misleadingly rosy view on the 30 January elections.

She said there were "huge question marks" over the conduct of the poll, including claims that ballot boxes for 400,000 people were not supplied.

"Harry is an old friend and I am sorry he has gone, but I think he has been misled," she told Today.

"This remains an illegal invasion and an illegal occupation."