“I’m not your typical marcher; this is very unusual for me. But I have not heard sufficient evidence to justify military action. If there was a second UN resolution I might be prepared to change my stance, but at the moment the prospect of unilateral action scares me, because I think it will cause more long-term damage.

“I normally vote Labour, but I think Blair is running a very fine line of alienating his supporters, and if you look around at this march that bears it out — I’ve never seen anything like it.”

John Lowe, 65, chartered accountant from St Albans, wife, Gillian, 59, son, Robert, 27:

Mr Lowe: “This is our first march, we came down on a train-load of Middle England. We feel strongly against the war, but feel we didn’t have an opportunity to express that. I’ve voted Conservative in the past, but on this issue it is very hard to find a reasonable voice. I’ve been very disappointed with Iain Duncan Smith.”

Mrs Lowe: “It makes you despair of any of them, but the march has been exhilarating.”

Robert Lowe: “Charles Kennedy’s appearance today seems a bit opportunistic. It’s very hard to trust any of the politicians on this.”

Alice Maclaine, 28, from North London, with Harry, 3:

“This is my first march, I never thought I’d go on one, but recently I’ve started to think that apathy is as bad as hate. I’m pleased I came, it’s been really good fun, and I am proud that all these people are here because I wanted to take a stand to show Blair that we aren’t with him on this. I have voted Labour in the past, but his position on Iraq has put me off.”

Anne Williams, 52, retired, from Cardiff:

“I wouldn’t describe myself as a pacifist, it’s only since the Iraq crisis that I’ve started to become totally against war. I came on my first march last November on the Iraq issue, because I think that if we go to war it will only cause more war. I was a Labour supporter, but this issue has pushed me towards the Lib Dems.”

Ali Syed, 33, investment banker, wife, Aisha, 30, son Hamza, 2, from East London:

Mr Syed: “We feel so strongly about the issue it’s got us to our first march. We don’t have any support for Saddam Hussein and want him removed. My father worked in Iraq during the 1970s and I went to school there for a bit, it used to be such a beautiful country.

“But coming from Pakistan and being Muslims makes the reality of war in the area and its effect on people much more real to you. I’d like to see a serious policy of containment before we start bombing.”

Mrs Syed: “It seems absurd to kill hundreds of thousands of people just to get rid of one man, he should be targeted and hunted down. It’s not that we feel more empathy for Iraqis because it’s a Muslim country, they’re just human beings. I don’t want to see any innocent people get killed.”

Peter Hague, 68, retired vet from Huntingdon:

“I’m here because I feel the UN is absolutely crucial, we need to strengthen it rather than finding ways of bypassing it. I think we should increase inspections and only use war as a last resort, otherwise there is no future for any international agreement.

“My first march was on the same issue last September. I was a Labour supporter, but I think Blair is mistaken on this issue, he’s being too rash.”

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