Mr Tony Blair will seek to rally party and country today with a Brighton conference speech placing Britain's vital interests at the centre of the promised assault on global terrorism.
With the largest Royal Navy flotilla since the Falklands War assembled in the Gulf, and the countdown to military engagement continuing, the prime minister will face down Labour doubters and defend his "shoulder to shoulder" solidarity with President Bush.
Ahead of Thursday's second recall of parliament, Mr Blair is expected to tell Labour delegates - and a watching audience of millions - that "there is nothing abstract" about Britain's interest in seeing the perpetrators of the terror attacks on America brought to justice - and that British values and sense of community are also under attack.
After what is tipped to be an intensely personal speech, the prime minister is expected to leave the conference and return to London where he will continue his ceaseless round of international diplomacy and prepare for Thursday's report to MPs in the Commons.
While the unfolding international crisis will dominate Mr Blair's conference address, he will again assure delegates that the cost of the upcoming "war" on terrorism will not deflect his government from its second-term commitments to reform and radically improve Britain's public services.
That was the message yesterday from the Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown, who paved the way for Mr Blair's appearance with an emotional performance declaring pride in Mr Blair's response to the events of September 11th and the confident assertion that "he is truly speaking for Britain."
In a vintage performance, Mr Brown also challenged the party's dissenters by casting Britain's response to the terrorist challenge in the context of the true spirit of Labour's "internationalism", saying "these times of adversity" should not weaken but strengthen the party's commitment to "progressive goals."
Mr Brown told conference: "It has fallen now to our generation to bear the burden of defeating international terrorism. At this testing time we know our duty, to stand and not to yield."
Invoking Labour's commitment to the cause of the United Nations, collective security in Europe, and of international solidarity, the Chancellor continued: "The cause is not just of one country, one continent, one culture; but of people of conscience everywhere whatever their colour, whatever their race, whatever their background, whatever their religion."
He went on: "The cause founded on a simple truth, that an injury done to one is an injury to all; an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Mr Brown confirmed that funds worth more than $88 million had been frozen in response to the international crackdown on terrorism.
Declaring ready access to finance "the life-blood of terrorism", Mr Brown called on all 190 members of the United Nations to implement financial sanctions. He said these were designed to ensure there was "no safe haven for terrorists" and "no safe hiding place for terrorist funds."
Conceding that Britain faced "testing times", Mr Brown insisted that "tough decisions" taken by Labour in 1997 - reducing debt and granting independence to the Bank of England - meant "that we are today in a better position to withstand the ups and downs of the economic cycle."
Mr Brown insisted his spending plans for schools, hospitals and transport were based on "cautious assumptions".
The Chancellor assured conference the government's commitments would be adhered to in the quest for greater social justice.
And he expressed confidence that the next spending round would release further new resources for tackling poverty and further improving public services.
As the Chancellor signalled further measures to help track the laundering of "dirty money" used to assist terrorists, there were indications last night that proposals for the introduction of compulsory identification cards were on "the back burner" and would not be part of emergency proposals for new laws to be flagged by Mr Blair in the Commons on Thursday.
Meanwhile anti-terrorist detectives were questioning a 43-year-old man arrested under the Terrorism Act last night but refused to confirm if he was suspected of links with the US atrocities.
A property in south-east London was being searched following the arrest yesterday morning.