Cameron announces £2bn extra funding to combat terrorism

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced £2 billion extra special forces funding to combat the growing terrorist threat.

Cameron’s announcement came at his annual address to the Lord Mayor of London's Banquet and follows the attacks in pairs on 13 November that left 129 dead and over 350 people injured.

This extra funding will be delivered from the growth in defence budget guaranteed by the government’s commitment to the NATO target of two per cent of GDP defence spending.

The £2 billion is aimed at tackling the threat from ISIL, with a focus on SAS and other special forces units, drones and fighter aircrafts.

The new focus on counter terrorism from within the defence budget marks a shift from the last Strategic Defence Review in 2010, which announced plans for two aircraft carriers which were criticised by some defence experts as not suitable to match emerging terror threats.

Cameron also announced plans to increase the proportion of the £12 billion overseas aid budget devoted to stabilising and supporting fragile states from the target from 30 per cent to a new target of 50 per cent.