The two letters from protesters at my parliamentary advice surgery on Saturday, October 11 (Letters, October 17) display the feeble grasp of reality we have come to expect from this group.

I accept numerous petitions and representations from lots of groups and will continue to do so.

However, I make no apologies for refusing to meet with a group who I have already met three times and from whom I accepted a petition in the summer.

Your readers will be interested to know that the petition organisers, the Green Party and Sussex Action For Peace, now want British troops out of Iraq "immediately".

This is a completely ridiculous demand and shows their total lack of understanding of the international situation.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1511, agreed unanimously just last week, sets out a programme towards democracy in Iraq.

This should surely be welcomed by everyone and certainly reflects the overwhelming view of people in my constituency of Hove and Portslade.

Our job now is, with many other countries, to contribute aid and, yes, troops to ensure security, develop reconstruction projects and help train the Iraqis so they can once again become a member of the international community.

It is quite clear the Green Party and their band of supporters are the ones who are out of touch with international, national and local opinion but that's not new because it's always easy just to oppose everything all the time.

-Ivor Caplin MP, House of Commons, London