One of the more improbable partnerships in the anti-war movement delivered its message last night when a video featuring Ian Brown, the former Stone Roses singer, and the Irish pop star Sinead O'Connor was screened.

The video, Brown's creation, is entitled Illegal Attacks and tells the story of a British soldier in Iraq who gets caught up in a night operation in which a mother and father are taken hostage. Directed by Colin O'Toole, it will be posted on the Stop the War Coalition website.

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In true Brown fashion, the lyrics of the single are even more forthright than the accompanying video. "So what the fuck is this UK, Going in with the US of A in Iraq and Iran and Afghanistan," Brown sings. "There's hardly a day goes by, How many sons have to die?... These are illegal attacks so bring the soldiers back." Brown has always had plenty to say about the occupation of Iraq and has been seen at Stop the War marches against the occupation. "I thought if we went to war there would be terrorist attacks," he said last year. "Bush and Blair are nutters, just like Bin Laden. They are equally trying to indoctrinate millions. I don't have the same values as them and I can't stand being a 42-year old guy with three kids, being spoken to like I'm 12." Of O'Connor's involvement in the single, Brown said: "The song is about the Iraqi and Afghan wars. I needed a woman singing the line, 'Soldiers come home', to give it gravitas." The other track featuring O'Connor is "Some Folks Are Hollow".

Brown's haunting record "So Many Soldiers", with its refrain: "Only so many soldiers come home..." was his first articulation of his views on war. His thoughts on British foreign policy have also been influenced by his experience of Islam. He is believed to have converted to the religion while he was serving a prison term in 1998 for an air rage attack.

The new single, which features a guest vocal from Sinead O'Connor, is due to be released on 17 September. It is the first single from Brown's new album, The World Is Yours, released on 24 September.