Britain pledges tougher laws in terror crackdown

David Cameron has announced new laws to crack down on terror suspects as he warned that extremism in Iraq and Syria poses a greater danger to Britain than al Qaeda.

As the terrorist threat to the UK was raised from substantial to severe, the British prime minister said legislation would be introduced that would make it easier to seize jihadists’ passports.

“What we are facing in Iraq now with Isil (Islamic State) is a greater threat to our security than we have seen before,” he told a press conference in Downing Street.

Cameron said: “In Afghanistan, the Taliban were prepared to play host to al Qaeda, the terrorist organisation. With IS 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.”

The statement came as the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) raised the threat level from substantial to severe amid fears over British jihadists returning from Iraq and Syria to carry out atrocities.

The change means a terrorist attack is considered “highly likely”, although Home Secretary Theresa May stressed there was no specific intelligence.

“The increase in the threat level is related to developments in Syria and Iraq where terrorist groups are planning attacks against the West,” Mrs May said. “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.”

Speculation is mounting that the British government could bow to pressure for terrorism investigation and prevention measures (Tpims) to be beefed up. There have been calls for powers to impose “internal exile” on suspects, a key part of the old control orders regime, to be restored.

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.