EVEN a fortnight after their disappearance, we all prayed there would be a happy ending for Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells and their families.

Sadly it was not to be. Last night's news that bodies found in remote fenland were almost certainly those of Jessica and Holly meant our prayers were in vain.

This case has moved our nation. Not because of the mysterious circumstances of their disappearance, but because they were typical ten-year-olds, from typical families, in a typical town who had been enjoying a typical Sunday barbecue with friends and relations.

All of us could share in the pain and suffering endured by the parents of these two girls.

Throughout this harrowing ordeal, the parents have displayed tremendous courage, dignity and fortitude. It was a resilience brought about partly by the comfort and support of their loved ones and their friends, but mainly by the hope that their girls would be returned safe and well.

We can not imagine their level of grief and torment now that all hope has disappeared.

Our heartfelt sympathies go out to them.

Fools rush in where angels...

AS a rule, the British people are inclined to support military intervention ordered by their government.

The Falklands War, Gulf War, Kosovo and Sierra Leone all saw British armed forces committed overseas with relatively few voices of criticism.

As long as the case for military action is proven and legitimate a Prime Minister can count on support.

The current case against Iraq, however, appears far from clear-cut. The Northern Echo's poll of the Prime Minister's constituency published last week clearly demonstrated the reluctance to commit our forces. There is also widespread dissension within Labour Party ranks, right up to Cabinet level.

The onus is on the Prime Minister to produce the evidence to justify the risk of taking action against Saddam Hussein.

If he can't produce the evidence, then the message from the British people, and much of his own party, is for him to caution President Bush against rushing headlong into war in the Middle East.