One can only be filled with joy and optimistic hope for the people of the Middle East, particularly Egypt, which ousted its nasty dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The events that started with a Tunisian student setting himself on fire (the catalyst that got rid of that country’s dictator Ben Ali), created a domino effect in other countries in that region.

In Bahrain and Libya many have paid with their lives. So just what is the West’s role?

Unfortunately some of the guns and bullets used to cut down these ordinary people came from the UK and the US.

There is plenty of money to be made in killing. Meanwhile, ordinary Libyans continue to die.

In Israel, meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu said his country couldn’t allow extremists to get into power, which is a touch ironic with his country’s record of illegal settlements, the illegal siege of Gaza, and illegal use of banned weapons.

Israel lost Iran after the fall of the West’s brutal Shah some years ago. It also lost Turkey as a friend after its murderous attack on a Turkish aid ship, last year.

Egypt could well be next as the people demand change, a change that will certainly be pro Palestinian, if the populace has its way!

This begs the question why do we interfere in the Middle East? The answer is best summed up by Lord Palmerston, (another nasty Tory but from the 1850s), who said, “there are no permanent allies, only permanent interests”. Isn’t it time the people of this country demanded that this policy stops?

There is hope of a million people on the streets of London on Saturday to oppose our own banker-friendly Government. Could this be our Egyptian moment?

Tim W Siret, Millmoor Crescent, Eynsham