WHILE we wait on the brink of we know not what, which we know might trigger something of which we dare not think, the wider world has continued to revolve in its own sweet way.

Today, for instance, brings us round to the traditional highlight of the Labour Party conference: the leader's speech. That leader led the party to an unprecedented second victory in May but, until September 11, this was destined to be Tony Blair's most difficult conference as the public/private debate was joined.

Today, Mr Blair must look statesmanlike and in control. He must sound bellicose and, at the same time, humanitarian. Although some of his speech will be about domestic matters, it is foreign affairs that will dominate.

This is inevitable, understandable and right. Yet it would be wrong if we didn't look at events in our own country.

The Taliban found a reporter who had illegally entered Afghanistan. She has been arrested, and her credentials are being checked out. She is being fed cigarettes and food.

In the British Isles, a reporter has been shot dead in his own town on his way home from the pub. He was silenced for probing the affairs of "loyalist" terrorists. Just as Mr Blair has seen incontrovertible evidence linking Osama bin Laden to the terror in America, so the security forces in Northern Ireland seem to know exactly which terror organisation the Loyalist Volunteer Force and even which of its members killed journalist Martin O'Hagan on Friday. Indeed, Afghanistan is the largest producer of heroin in the world and the reason for Mr O'Hagan's murder was that he got too close to the loyalists' drugs operations.

On Saturday, the first suicide bomber since September 11 struck Jerusalem. To emphasise the barbarity of the attack, television showed pictures of children running from their school in horror, clutching their bags.

In the British Isles, every day since term began a month ago, primary pupils have had everything from blast bombs to spittle to stones to insults hurled at them as they make their way to the school gates. For the four-year-olds at Holy Cross in Belfast, this is their first term: to them this is normal.

Astonishingly, such barbarity is still going on in fact, the numbers of parents involved in Belfast has increased in the last four weeks as, following the worst riots in the area for 30 years, the sides have become more entrenched. It was also astonishing that Mr O'Hagan's murder was treated with a shrug of the shoulders, whereas Yvonne Ridley's capture captured the front pages.

While it is right that Britain is involved in the war against international terrorism, we must devote similar energies to the same war which is raging within our own shores.