Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I'm bored rigid reading about the dilemma of former Labour voters who, wanting Saddam to have remained in power, cannot bring themselves to vote for a Prime Minister who helped liberate Iraq.

I have a very different problem. I wish - as regular readers will have noticed - to see Mr Blair reelected, in large measure because of his support for the war. In fact, I wish to support Charles Kennedy's notion of treating the election as a referendum on said war.

I have voted Labour in every election since I have been eligible to vote, local, European and national.

But what am I now to do? I wrote to my Labour candidate to ask him whether he supported the war. I informed him of my Labour voting history and my decision to treat the election as a referendum.

This is his reply:

A decision had to be made on the failure to achieve a second UN resolution - I respect the PM's decision, personally I would (with the information at my disposal) have made a different one. That is also partly in recognition that this may have been the first 'resources' war of the 21st century, perhaps a moment for us to all reflect on the price others have to pay for our affluent lifestyles.

If I am to vote Labour next Thursday, I will have to put an x by the name of a man who would have voted to keep Saddam in power and who clearly has not the slightest notion of the threat faced by Western society. Worse still, he appears to have a bizarre conception of economics and wealth creation - that there is somehow a finite supply of wealth available to the planet and our affluence is maintained at the cost of others.

This is a genuine dilemma. I cannot abstain; I despise those who opt out. I cannot conceive of voting Conservative, and certainly will not reward Mr Howard's despicable campaign tactics over immigration and asylum.

The only way out I can see is to take solace from the fact that I live in a safe Tory seat, and so my vote will not return the Labour candidate to Parliament. I can defend my vote on the basis that it's a vote for Labour - for Blair - and not for the actual candidate. But that's a cop out, isn't it?