New counter terror law plans outlined by Cameron following increasing threat from IS extemists

Addressing parliament before the NATO Summit in Wales, Prime Minister David Cameron announced a range of measures to combat the growing threat of Islamic State extremism.

The plans, which will be drawn up on a cross-party basis, will discuss the changes including the introduction of new powers to seize the passports of suspected terrorists at UK borders.

Following the release of despicable videos which depict the two brutal executions of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, the latest threat to execute a British national appears to come from a terrorist with an English accent, dubbed ‘Jihadi John’ (pictured in the story below) by the media. Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond said analysis of the footage of both murders has concluded it is genuine and features the same masked militant, who speaks with a distinctive London or south-east accent.

IS militants have seized large areas of Syria and Iraq and have been condemned for the mass slaughter of religious minorities in the region, including Iraqi Christians and the Yazidi community. Cameron told MPs he thought it was “abhorrent” British citizens had “declared their allegiance” to groups like Islamic State. He restated the UK’s backing for US airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and said he would not rule out participation in similar action in the future.

The UK’s terror threat level was raised to ‘severe’ from “substantial” at the end of August. The new alert level rates the risk of an attack on the UK “highly likely”, although Home Secretary Theresa May said there was no evidence to suggest one was “imminent”.

This level of threat has been used twice before – in 2006 after the discovery of liquid bombs aimed at airliners, and then the following year when extremists attempted to bomb Glasgow Airport and London’s West End.

Developments in the Middle East over recent months had major implications for the UK’s security, with 500 British nationals estimated to have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight on behalf of Islamic State and other militant groups. Cameron mentioned a “forensic focus” was needed in order to deal with British jihadists returning to the UK from conflict zones.

“We have also stepped up our operational response, with a fivefold increase in Syria-related arrests and the removal of 28,000 pieces of extremist material from the internet this year alone, including 46 ISIL-related videos,” he said.

Elsewhere in Europe, a French law to seize passports is being fast-tracked through parliament, and the government is ramping up arrests of increasingly young teenagers making plans for jihad.

Over the past week, US Secretary of State John Kerry and other administration officials have reached out to leaders from Australia, the UAE, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Israel to discuss how to combat the Islamic State.