I SUPPOSE I should not be surprised that my colleague in the European Parliament, Chris Davies MEP, is taking the controversial view that, after just one month, we should abandon our military campaign against Osama bin Laden, his terrorist network and the Taliban who support him.

After all, if Chris spots a possible bandwagon, he is never slow to join it; remember his calls to legalise brothels and heroin?

But this issue is just too important for an easy headline. We in Britain, indeed in the whole civilised world, face the worst threat to our way of life and to our freedoms since 1945. To suggest, as Chris does, that we can talk to the Taliban, or persuade bin Laden and his gang to simply give themselves up, is unbelievable naivety.

The truth is that we have no choice but to take action and support our American allies. It would have been quite possible for bin Laden to surrender himself to justice before a shot was fired but this never happened and there was no likelihood of it ever happening.

War is an awful business. It is costly and tragic in terms of innocent lives and campaigns like this take time. They do not bring victory in weeks. It may take months or years. And it requires sticking to principles. Thank goodness this is recognised across most of the political spectrum, if not by Liberal Democrats.

DAVID SUMBERG MEP