The long weeks and months of build-up are now at an end. The diplomacy and the political debate are over. There seems every likelihood that within the next few hours Britain alongside the United States will be at war with Iraq.

Whatever any of us believes about the rights and wrongs of the situation - and it is clear that a majority of people still have very deep reservations about whether Britain should be in this position - we have no choice now but to support our fighting men and women in their military campaign.

Tony Blair faced a huge rebellion among his own party's MPs last night but the stark facts are that at the end of the day the voice of democracy spoke in favour of the war going ahead against Iraq - or, more specifically, against Saddam Hussein.

The United States Government has hinted very strongly that it might not wait for President Bush's 1am Thursday deadline for Saddam and his key henchmen to leave Iraq and that military action will start at a time of its choosing now he has made it clear that he has no intention of quitting the country over which he has presided so ruthlessly.

All that is left to do now for those not directly involved in the fighting is to hope and pray that the action is swift, that the war is brief and effective, that an absolute minimum number of Allied military personnel are lost in the conflict and as few innocent bystanders as possible become victims of a war which, with its many ramifications, takes the human race into uncharted waters.