Foreign Secretary Jack Straw today promised to use "every weapon" - military, diplomatic, economic and political - to defeat terrorism.

In a keynote speech to Labour's Brighton conference, Mr Straw it was a "delusion" to believe those behind the terrorist attacks on the US could be dealt with by negotiation.

"Like fascists, these people are driven by hate, by violence and destruction.

"Their activities are amongst the greatest threats to peace and security across the world," he warned.

It was not just a fight against terrorism, but a battle against the "perverted ideology of terrorism" which had no regard for life.

"We need to deploy every weapon - military, diplomatic, economic, political - to undermine the roots and the causes of this terrorism, to stifle its support, to target its funding and to remove its lethal machinery."

Mr Straw vowed Britain would "act proportionately" and according to international law in its response to the atrocities.