'ISIS pose a greater threat to Britain than we have known before': Cameron warns an attack on the UK is now 'highly likely'

• .PM says ISIS poses 'greater threat to security than we have known before' 
• .The 'terrorist state' is more dangerous than al Qaeda, Mr Cameron said
• .PM announced new laws will be introduced to remove extremists' passports
• .Threat level raised amid fears over UK jihadis returning from Iraq and Syria
• .Theresa May says there's no evidence to suggest that an attack is imminent
• .Up to 600 British extremists have travelled to the Middle East to join ISIS
• .Around 300 UK-linked terrorists are thought to have returned to Britain

By TOM MCTAGUE, MAILONLINE DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

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 returning extremists fighting for ISIS in 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 '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 Iraq or Syria 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.'

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David Cameron today warned that Islamist terrorists cannot be 'appeased' and need to be faced down

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 were 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.’

 

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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.

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Theresa May said an attack on the UK was 'highly likely' after the terror threat level was increased to severe

FIVE TERROR THREAT LEVELS 

Critical - an attack is expected imminently

Severe - an attack is highly likely

Substantial - an attack is a strong possibility

Moderate - an attack is possible but not likely

Low - an attack is unlikely

The PM 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.

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Scotland Yard chief Bernard Hogan Howe earlier this week claimed the 'drum beat' of terror had increased

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.

The 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.'

TERROR THREAT WAS LAST RAISED TO CRITICAL ON JANUARY 22, 2010

The British Government brought in a new warning system to alert the public to the threat posed by al Qaida and other terror groups in the wake of the July 7 terror atrocity.

When it was first published on August 1, 2006, the threat stood at severe - the second highest level. But just over a week later, on August 10, the threat was raised to critical after police exposed a plot to manufacture and smuggle parts of explosives on to passenger jets flying between the UK and the US, and detonate them on board.

Counter terrorism police smashed the terror ring, arresting its members in a raid codenamed Operation Overt, and on August 13 the threat level was lowered to severe, where it stayed for around a year.

Britain was plunged into a fresh state of heightened alert and the terror threat was raised to critical on June 30, 2007, after a blazing car loaded with propane canisters was driven into a crowded Glasgow Airport.

The attack came just one day after two bombs were discovered in cars in London's Park Lane and Piccadilly - among the capital's busiest tourist spots.

Police quickly arrested Muslim extremist Bilal Abdullah, a man behind the two attempted attacks. And on July 4 2007 the threat level was lowered to severe, where it stood for two years before being lowered again on July 20 2009 to substantial.

But the perils of terrorism came to the forefront again when on Christmas Day 2009 the now-notorious underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a jumbo jet as it flew to Detroit in the US.

Tragedy was only averted when brave passengers overpowered the Nigerian, and terror chiefs decided to raise the British threat level on January 22, 2010, to severe.

It stood at severe for 18 months before being lowered on July 11 2011 to substantial, where it stood for three years.

Today Home Secretary Teresa May announced the terror threat is again being raised to severe in the wake of warnings of the deadly threat posed by British jihadists radicalised fighting for Islamic State extremists in Syria and Iraq.

The level is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre and the Security Service, which operates out of MI5.