Spin versus evidence

War looms. The mood and signals at Westminster lead to this depressing conclusion.

Whether it's the build up of American military might or new war arguments from the White House and Number Ten, the talk in the corridors has become more sombre and frantic since Christmas.

The deployment of armed forces is well-reported, but I'm concerned how Bush and Blair are "spinning" a new argument for war.

The new argument is, Ministers must persuade the public of the case for war. With opinion polls showing real opposition, their conclusion is they must improve their spin.

When the case for war rests on getting the public relations right, things are deadly sinister.

Yet the key issue surely should be evidence.

Even MPs like me - who are deeply sceptical of this American President's motives - would consider backing UN-authorised action, if there was evidence. Yet so far there is simply no evidence, at all, that Iraq has or is about to get weapons of mass destruction.

So we must keep the UN Weapons Inspectors in Iraq. They must keep looking and monitoring. Saddam's appalling record and the UN's unanimous view on that lends total legitimacy to the international investigation of Iraq.

If that investigation lasts months or finds nothing, then so be it.

Any war is bad enough. The consequences of war without evidence are too awful to contemplate.