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They came from all over the country, from every background and representing all shades of political opinion.



Pensioners and children, veteran activists and first-timers marched on London's streets demanding that Britain and the United States pull back from the brink of war with Iraq.

Wrapped warmly against the biting cold, blowing whistles and waving banners with slogans such as "No to war", "Don't attack Iraq" and "Not in my name", the throng marched through central London to a mass rally in Hyde Park.

"I've been marching all my life but last year I had a stroke and couldn't go marching anymore. However, I felt duty-bound to go on this march," pensioner Clive Bush, 71, said as he plodded along the banks of the capital's River Thames.

Protest March Route

"I hope this demonstration will show Muslims it is our government that wants the war, not the British people," said Richard Shirres who had travelled to London from Lincolnshire, eastern England, with his six-year-old son to take part in his

first ever march.

Police, who started the march early because of the large numbers arriving, said there were already 150,000 people in the crowd as the march got under way and the number was rising steadily.

More than 3,000 police were on duty and all leave had been cancelled with the city already on high security alert for possible terror attacks.

But police said the mood of the march was good-natured and there had been no incidents.

"I have never seen anything like this in my political career," city mayor Ken Livingstone said. "This is all Britain standing together regardless of age, race or sex."

Organisers said they hoped the march would attract up to one million people and even the police, normally given to understatement, said they anticipated up to 500,000.

Prominent American peace campaigner Jesse Jackson, who is due to address the rally at the end of the march, warned earlier war on Iraq could trigger a long and bloody feud.

"There could be a short war but a long battle," he said.

"There is great concern that it may be a short term war at great cost to human life. Can we kill the people to save them?"

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has become increasingly isolated internationally and domestically because of his unflinching support for U.S. President George W. Bush's hawkish attitude towards Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Both men insist Saddam is hiding illegal weapons of mass destruction and must be disarmed -- a claim Iraq denies.

On Saturday Blair stuck to his guns in a speech to a Labour Party conference in the Scottish city of Glasgow, insisting that international backbone was crucial in facing down Saddam.

"If we show weakness now, if we allow the plea for more time to become just an excuse for prevarication until the moment for action passes then...the menace, and not just from Saddam, will grow," he said.

"The authority of the U.N. will be lost and the conflict when it comes will be more bloody," he warned.

The London protest, which organisers hoped would become the largest in British political history, was one of many across the country and worldwide.

Police said 25,000 demonstrated peacefully outside the Labour Party conference in Glasgow, but Blair had left before any of them even arrived there.

There were also demonstrations in Belfast and Dublin.

Lending a truly British tone to the London march, one placard read: "Make Tea Not War".