DEVIZES MP and Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram voted with the Government for war in Iraq.

Mr Ancram, who spoke in the debate at the House of Commons on Tuesday, said: "I believe the Government is working in the national interest.

The weapons of mass destruction that Saddam Hussein has pose a growing threat."

North Wiltshire MP James Gray also voted with the Government in support of armed intervention in Iraq, and voiced the importance of supporting our troops in the Gulf.

"I have been feeling uncomfortable about many aspects of this situation over the last six months," he said.

"Now we have 300,000 troops in Kuwait and the options we have are to come home or go in. If we came home that would be a significant victory for Saddam Hussein," he said.

He said six months ago other ways of dealing with the situation might have been possible, but now he saw no other option.

"Now we are talking about military force we should be supporting people from Hullavington, Lyneham and Colerne.

"We can't ask people to go in with politicians still squabbling about it at home."

Swindon's Labour MPs Julia Drown (South Swindon) and Michael Wills (North Swindon) both backed the Government motion authorising "all means necessary" to disarm Saddam Hussein.

Ms Drown said she had agonised long and hard before voting with Mr Blair. She said: "This has been an incredibly difficult decision. Whether or not there is war, many innocent people in Iraq will die."

Mr Wills has insisted the international community cannot be paralysed by France, which has pledged to veto any new resolution that threatened war.