I'll warn you up front that I'm not going to use this post to make political points, because this is beyond politics. And, as today's event showed, it's beyond religion too. One of the most compelling phrases I heard at the event, which both Nick and others used, was: "terrorism has no religion". Certainly some terrorists claim to be acting in the name of a religion, but no religion condones terrorist acts such as the one on Wednesday.

Hearing people from all faiths speak with one voice to reject the attack and agree that this brutal act is nothing to do with Islam or with any other religion, was incredibly powerful. And it makes it all the worse that there has already been a reported increase in Islamophobic incidents since Wednesday, including graffiti and vandalism at mosques and a number of Muslims, including children, being abused in the street. We cannot let this happen. The people who carried out the attack used their political and religious justification to mask what is basic brutality. As one of the other speakers, Canon Guy Wilson from the London Faiths Forum said, we should see each other first as human beings and neighbours. We cannot condone grouping people together by religion and holding the many responsible for the acts of the few who are using a peaceful religion for their own ends.

At the meeting of community leaders beforehand, many of the participants told us how important interfaith dialogue and interfaith community action are and how important it is that governments past and present have worked and continue to work to encourage and promote this. I hope to be able to announce something further in this area in the very near future.

Another very positive phrase to come out of this terrible episode, and one which all those who might think of undertaking violent acts should think about, is what a bystander said to one of the attackers in Woolwich: "You're going to lose. It's only you versus many."

* Don Foster is MP for Bath and the Liberal Democrat Minister for Communities and Local Government.