Cameron calls for British air strikes in fight against IS

Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday that he would address parliament on Thursday to urge MPs to back strikes against the self-styled “Islamic State” (IS) militants in Syria.

Mr Hollande welcomed the British support and said it was essential to strike IS in its heartlands in Syria.

The Scottish National Party’s Angus Robertson said his legislators would not support airstrikes without effective ground support and “a fully costed reconstruction and stability plan”.

There should be no extension of airstrikes into the country without “a coherent worldwide strategy that has a realistic chance of defeating Isil and of ending the civil war in Syria”, said the cross-party committee.

But in his pursuit of aim, he received a significant boost when Crispin Blunt, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee who had previously been opposed, said that he would now support United Kingdom military action in Syria.

In Paris, Cameron and Hollande stood side by side after laying a wreath at the Bataclan concert hall, where 90 of the 130 victims were killed in the Paris attacks of November 13.

“Bombing Iraq over one border and then not allowing it in Syria doesn’t make sense, I think the events in Paris have changed public opinion”.

In their talks afterwards, both men stressed the need for improved security and intelligence-sharing across the European Union to counter the threat from extremists returning to Europe after fighting in Syria and Iraq.

“As the murders on the streets of Paris reminded us so starkly, ISIL (another term for IS) is not some remote problem thousands of miles away – it is a direct threat to our security at home and overseas”, Cameron said.

The British premier reiterated that the fight against the terrorists needs “a pan-European effort”.

“Under this new operation, up to 10,000 military personnel will be available to support the police”, he said.

No explosives or weapons have yet been found in the 19 raids carried out across Brussels, including the area of Molenbeek where members of ISIS planned the Paris attacks.

Mr Cameron said in response: “The best that can be said about that is the longer you went on the less you had to say”.

Hollande will also hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow this week, before receiving President Xi Jinping in the French capital on Sunday. Writing in the SDSR’s foreword, Cameron said over the course of this Parliament “our priorities are to deter state-based threats, tackle terrorism, remain a world leader in cyber security and ensure we have the capability to respond rapidly to crises as they emerge”.

“We have to defeat this evil”.

Writing in the Telegraph newspaper on Monday, the British leader also said the government would invest in new surveillance drones and make a joint investment with France in developing unmanned combat air vehicles.