Harold Pinter was in Brighton to talk about freedom and independence.

They are words which, he believes, are being diluted of all proper meaning by a UK and US administration using them as a shield, behind which they rain death and destruction on Iraq.

The man regarded by many as Britain's greatest living playwright has never shirked controversy. He conscientiously objected to National Service but is no pacifist, telling a busy Dome he would have fought in the Second World War.

But the war was over when Pinter turned 18 and, by that age, he claims to have already seen the Western war machine for what it was - not a tool for good but a battering ram for foreign policy to be inflicted on smaller, weaker countries daring to step out of line.

At 73, little has changed. Pinter put across his anti-war and anti-American imperialism views with a voice which was a pleasure to listen to, rich and dark, like velvet syrup.

He preached well to the converted, describing Tony Blair as a "deluded hysteric" and receiving rousing applause.

However, Pinter was strong on opinions but weak on solutions. He left us with every left-leaning person's conundrum: "The first thing we need to do is get rid of Tony Blair, the last thing we want to do is elect a Conservative government."

There is no easy answer admittedly but a bit of advice would have been nice.