HARGEISA(Wajaalenews);A terror attack on the UK is now ‘highly likely’, David Cameron said today.
The Prime Minister’s remarks came after the official threat level was raised from substantial to severe – the second highest – amid growing fears over the number of extremists returning to the UK from Iraq and Syria.
Mr Cameron said ISIS now posed a ‘greater and deeper threat to our security than we have known before’. The PM said terrorism was now ‘the most important issue facing this country today’.
He also announced that new laws will be passed to make it easier to remove extremists’ passports if there are concerns they will travel to the Middle East to join ISIS.
The Prime Minister’s remarks came after the Home Secretary Theresa May stressed that there is no information to suggest an attack is imminent, but warned: ‘We face a real and serious threat in the UK from international terrorism.’
Mr Cameron said ISIS was more dangerous than the Taliban and al Qaeda because it was trying to set up its own ‘terrorist state’
At a hastily arranged press conference in Downing Street this afternoon, Mr Cameron said the intelligence and security services believed that at least 500 Britons had gone to fight in Syria and potentially Iraq.
Mr Cameron said ISIS was more dangerous than the Taliban and al Qaeda. He said: ‘In Afghanistan the Taliban were prepared to play host to al Qaeda, the terrorist organisation.
‘With IS (ISIS) we are facing a terrorist organisation not being hosted in a country but seeking to establish and then violently expand its own terrorist state.
‘With designs on expanding to Jordan, Lebanon, right up to the Turkish border, we could be facing a terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a Nato member.’
He said the gruesome murder of US journalist James Foley was ‘clear evidence – not that any more was needed – that this is not some far off (problem), thousands of miles away, that we can ignore’.
Mr Cameron added: ‘What we are facing in Iraq now with ISIL (also known as ISIS) is a greater threat to our security than we have seen before.’
Although he stressed that the Government had already taken steps to counter the threat of jihadists returning to Britain to commit atrocities, he said it had become clear that there was still a need to fill ‘gaps in our armoury’.
He will be making a statement to Parliament on Monday giving details, but revealed the Government would introduce new laws to make it easier to remove extremists’ passports.
Mr Cameron said: ‘My first priority as Prime Minister is to make sure we do everything possible to keep our people safe.
‘The ambition to create an extremist caliphate in the heart of Iraq and Syria is a threat to our own security here in the UK.
‘The terrorist threat was not created by the Iraq war 10 years ago. it existed even before the horrific attacks on 9/11, themselves some time before the war.
‘This threat cannot be solved simply by dealing with perceived grievances over Western foreign policy. Nor can it be dealt with by addressing poverty, dictatorship or instability in the region – as important as these things are.
‘The root cause of this threat to our security is quite clear. It is a poisonous ideology of Islamist extremism that is condemned by all faiths and faith leaders.’
Mr Cameron is set to push for more coordinated European action to track jihadists at a summit in Brussels this weekend.
The UK wants to revive a directive that would enable police and security services across the EU to share passenger records.
National leaders have signed off the arrangements – but they have stalled in the European Parliament after MEPs expressed concern about civil liberties and privacy.
Mr Cameron’s remarks came after the Home Secretary Theresa May announced the decision to increase the terror threat level.
She said the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre – which is responsible for setting the national threat level – had raised it from ‘substantial’ to ‘severe’.
‘That means that a terrorist attack is highly likely, but there is no intelligence to suggest that an attack is imminent,’ she said.
It is understood that there is no intelligence relating to any specific threat to the forthcoming Nato summit.
Josh Earnest, the White House Press Secretary, meanwhile, reporters today that the National Terrorism Advisory System would not likely follow the UK’s lead and upgrade its terror threat level.
‘I don’t anticipate at this point that there’s a plan to change that level.’
The NTAS hasn’t issued a terror advisory since its national color-coded system was replaced in April 2011. It now focuses on evaluating the need for regional alerts that affect major cities.
The UK Government’s decision comes against a backdrop of increasing concern about hundreds of aspiring British jihadis travelling to Iraq and Syria to learn terrorist ‘tradecraft’, and the murder of American journalist James Foley by an apparently English killer.
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the UK’s most senior police officer, said Scotland Yard is prepared for an influx in case a swathe of homegrown extremists decide to return at the same time.
In a statement released today, Mrs May said: ‘The increase in the threat level is related to developments in Syria and Iraq where terrorist groups are planning attacks against the West.
‘Some of those plots are likely to involve foreign fighters who have travelled there from the UK and Europe to take part in those conflicts.
‘The first and most important duty of government is the protection of the British people.
‘We have already taken steps to improve our powers and increase our capabilities for dealing with the developing terrorist threats we face.
‘That process will continue and the British public should be in no doubt that we will take the strongest possible action to protect our national security.
‘We face a real and serious threat in the UK from international terrorism. I would urge the public to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to the police.’
National Policing Lead for Counter-Terrorism Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley added: ‘We need communities and families to bring to our attention anyone they perceive may be vulnerable, a danger or escalating towards terrorism. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.
‘From this afternoon we will begin to increase our levels of visible patrols and implement other security and protection measures. We will also build on existing community relations to provide reassurance and seek their support and assistance in keeping the UK safe.’