160 sign peace petition

The petition, organised by Anna Rehin and Alex Kirby, of Prince Edward's Road, asks the Government to:

l Reaffirm that it will never make first use of nuclear weapons.

l Set a date to fulfil its commitment under the UN's Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty to scrap its nuclear weapons

l Undertake not to attack Iraq, but to use diplomatic channels to negotiate a solution through the UN.

More than 160 people have signed the petition, which is being sent to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Other signatories include author Raymond Briggs, peace campaigner Bruce Kent, and the Most Revd. Khotso Makhulu, former Anglican archbishop of Central Africa.

In a joint statement, the organisers say: 'Virtually everyone we have spoken to believes there is no justification for war. Most are also convinced that such a war, besides being immoral, would increase the desperation of people in many developing countries, and would heighten the risk of catastrophic acts of terrorism in Britain itself. We beg Mr Blair to think again.'