Tony Blair faces his own Halloween showdown tonight from trick or treating MPs who are determined to force his hand for an inquiry into his handling of the no-win war in Iraq.

It seems extraordinary that this hasn’t happened before, that this will be the first full Commons debate on Iraq.

Blair took us to war on an illegal mandate, it is only right that our elected members should discuss this in open debate, they should have a free vote and be able to speak honestly. It is time for him to say: “Yo Bush, read my lips, no more war.”

The bloodbath continues unabated, the death toll could be much higher than calculated, we have put our country at risk of terrorist threats, the world is not a safer place with Saddam Hussein out of the way, in fact, it has led to thousands more terrorists being trained who did not exist before.

There is no easy solution to this problem, though having three regions for the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds would be an option I favoured if the oil situation there was not such a big factor. I don’t see the situation improving over the next year, Iraq will not be any safer. George Bush knows that, this is not a time to make face saving decisions, but saving the lives of our servicemen and women from further unnecessary slaughter, that should come first.

In fact, Iraq has become increasingly dangerous. Staff at the British consulate in Basra have recently been forced to evacuate because of heavy attacks on their fortified building and fears for their lives.

And hundreds of thousands of weapons intended for Iraqi security forces have gone missing, and could be in the hands of violent killers. What does this do for the confidence of our servicemen and women?

I believe the motion put forward by SNP and Plaid Cymru should call for more than a review of the Government’s questionable actions leading up to the war and in its aftermath, that it should debate our presence there today, the reasons why – and pulling out.