Benn rejects 'War on Terror' phrase

Mr Benn is to say openly that President George Bush's phrase "War on Terror" strengthens small disaffected groups with widely differing aims by making them feel part of something "bigger".

He will confirm that British ministers and civil servants have decided to stop using the term.

Speaking in New York, Mr Benn will also urge leaders such as President Bush to find common ground with potential enemies rather than relying on "hard" military power.

The intervention is unlikely to go down well in the White House, which coined the phrase shortly after the September 11 attacks. It previously stood by the term in December, when it was reported that the Foreign Office wanted it dropped.

However, the comments could boost Mr Benn's standing among Labour backbenchers as they prepare to vote on who should be the party's next deputy leader. President Bush has become a totemic hate figure for many on the left, and the Prime Minister has been heavily criticised for their close alliance.

"In the UK, we do not use the phrase 'War on Terror' because we can't win by military means alone, and because this isn't us against one organised enemy with a clear identity and a coherent set of objectives," Mr Benn will tell a meeting organised by the Centre for International Co-operation.

"It is the vast majority of the people in the world - of all nationalities and faiths - against a small number of loose, shifting and disparate groups who have relatively little in common apart from their identification with others who share their distorted view of the world and their idea of being part of something bigger. And by letting them feel part of something bigger, we give them strength," he will add.

Mr Benn will say that "hard power" alone cannot win the battle against terrorism in an "interconnected world", and a multilateral approach is needed.

"It can certainly win the battle - but without soft power, we cannot win the war that will deliver better governance, sustainable peace and lasting prosperity. The fight for the kind of world that most people want can, in the end, only be won in a different battle - a battle of values and ideas."