Hove MP Ivor Caplin today hit back at peace activists who criticised his stance on the war in Iraq.

On Saturday a group of protesters staged a mock funeral to mourn the "death of democracy" outside Hove Town Hall, where Mr Caplin was holding a constituency surgery.

They delivered a 1,000-name petition to the MP, who is also a junior defence minister, calling for the withdrawal of British forces from Iraq.

Mr Caplin accepted the document but said today he fundamentally disagreed with the views of the petitioners.

He said: "Everyone in the UK is free to demonstrate, provided they do it peacefully.

"That is exactly the same principle as we want to see in Iraq and that is what our troops are doing in Iraq."

Sussex Action For Peace spokesman Glenn Williams, 45, said: "We have tried on two previous occasions to hand over this petition.

"He took it off us in the end but had absolutely no comment to make."

Mr Caplin said: "My surgeries are very busy and are for constituency problems, not lobbies."

In a report on Monday we said Mr Caplin was unavailable to see the campaigners. In fact, he did meet the group, accepted their petition and had a short, private conversation. We apologise to Mr Caplin and are happy to set the record straight.