Islamic State militants could grow strong enough to target people on the streets of Britain unless action is taken, David Cameron has warned.

The PM, writing in the Sunday telegraph, said a “humanitarian response” to IS was not enough and a “firm security response” was needed.

It comes as Church leaders expressed concern that the UK had no “coherent” approach to tackling Islamic extremism.

IS has seized large parts of northern Iraq and Syria over the summer.

Kurdish forces, supported by US air strikes, are currently battling to retake Mosul dam from IS fighters in northern Iraq.

There are also continuing reports of massacres of non-Muslims by the extreme Sunni group, which is seeking to build a new Islamic state spanning Iraq and Syria.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Cameron said: “True security will only be achieved if we use all our resources – aid, diplomacy, our military prowess – to help bring about a more stable world.

“If we do not act to stem the onslaught of this exceptionally dangerous terrorist movement, it will only grow stronger until it can target us on the streets of Britain.”

He warned that if IS was able to “carve out its so-called caliphate”, the UK would be “facing a terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a NATO member”.

The UK has made aid drops to people stranded in northern Iraq but the prime minister warned a “broader political, diplomatic and security response” was needed, in addition to humanitarian action.

“We need a firm security response, whether that is military action to go after the terrorists, international co-operation on intelligence and counter-terrorism or uncompromising action against terrorists at home,” he wrote.

The prime minister suggested that anyone walking around in the UK with an Islamic state flag should be arrested.

Cameron also made clear that he did not see this as a “war on terror” but as “a battle between Islam on the one hand and extremists who want to abuse Islam on the other”.
Source: Punch