MORE than 200 people were at Tavistock College on Tuesday to hear prominent peace activist Bruce Kent argue the case against war in Iraq.

The 75-year-old leader of the Movement for the Abolition of War and vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament delivered an impassioned speech followed by a question and answer session.

He told the meeting, which was arranged by Tavistock Peace Action Group, that war on Iraq would be completely unjustified.

Mr Kent said to the Times: ?There are two main strands to my argument.

?Firstly, if we are to join an assault on Iraq on the grounds that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction at his disposal, we have to do it with a clean conscience ourselves.

?There can be no justification for action when Britain and the USA are in possession of the same kind of weaponry.

?The second point is that the United Nations? priority is the non-violent settlement of disputes, so war has to be absolutely the last resort.

?There?s no clear evidence in this case that other options have been fully examined, and that a war is therefore necessary.?

Mr Kent, a former Roman Catholic priest, rose to prominence in the 1980s with his radical and often outspoken view that international disputes should be settled without the use of force.

?It?s only on the international stage that force is considered an acceptable way of solving feuds and disputes,? he said.

?I daresay there are plenty of disputes between people in Tavistock at the moment, but none of them are settled with violence.

Mr Kent pointed out that Britain is currently alone in its support of President George Bush?s proposed military strike.

?We are the only country in Europe who are supporting George Bush, which I simply cannot understand.?

Mr Kent added that despite his anti-war stance, he had nothing but respect for Britain?s armed forces, having himself served in the Army. He said: ?I?ve no animosity whatsoever towards the armed forces, who do a brave job, as I know from personal experience.?

Yesterday (Wednesday), Mr Kent addressed sixth formers at Tavistock College before moving on to the Anchorage Centre to deliver his message to the town?s senior citizens.