UK borders tightened amid stowaway fears
PARIS CARNAGE: HUNT FOR THE KILLERS
BRITISH border security was escalated last night amid fears jihadis might stow away in vehicles crossing the Channel or enter the UK by boat to launch deadly attacks.
The crackdown came as David Cameron said the UK’s future security depended upon ‘degrading and ultimately destroying’ Islamic State.
The Prime Minister vowed a ‘step change’ in the battle against Islamic terror – pledging to recruit 1,900 spies.
Britain’s aviation security force will be doubled in order to conduct a two-month ‘rapid review’ of airports in trouble spots – mainly in North Africa and the Middle East.
Whitehall officials said that, in the wake of the Paris atrocities, border security has been ramped up to keep out fanatics intent on similar attacks. Insiders said holidaymakers returning via France should expect to have their car boot searched amid concerns By James Slack in London
and Jason Groves at the G20 Summit extremists might seek to stowaway in vehicles using ports or the Channel Tunnel. The Border Force has deployed two cutter boats to intercept suspicious small vessels.
Intelligence checks on flights from countries where IS has a foothold will be stepped up while more inbound freight vehicles will be scanned. Security officials said an attack remained ‘highly likely’, though there were no plans to raise the terror threat from severe to critical.
Plans for responding to a Paris-style marauding gun attack have been reviewed following two meetings of the Cobra emergency committee. Dozens of SAS troops are on patrol in busy areas while the Army is on standby. The SAS has orders to shoot terrorist attackers on sight.
Intelligence experts have been alarmed by the fact the Paris killers wore suicide bomb vests. A source said: ‘These people had no intention of trying to escape. That does look like a significant shift.’
Officials insist there is no evidence of fanatics seeking to use the asylum system to enter the UK. But they say this does not mean fanatics who have entered Europe posing as refugees will not now seek to reach Britain.
Mr Cameron flew to the Antalya, Turkey, yesterday for the G20 summit. He will hold talks with Vladimir Putin in an effort to persuade the Russian president to stop bombing Syrian moderates and focus military firepower on IS. But the prospect of an early Commons vote on British military intervention in Syria has been played down.
Last night, Mr Cameron said: ‘This is a generational struggle that demands we provide more manpower to combat those who would destroy us and our values.’
Spy agencies MI5, MI6 and GCHQ will see manpower boosted by about 15 per cent. The funding is also aimed at countering the growing menace of cyber-attacks.