UK PM set to unwrap new counter-terrorism bill on Syria

PanARMENIAN.Net - David Cameron is to set out details of further counter-terrorism measures as part of his announcement that Britain will take in around 10, 000 refugees from the Syrian border, a move to be funded by the government’s overseas aid budget, the Guardian reports.

Downing Street was reluctant to say what new measures would be set out in a statement to the Commons on Monday, September 7, but they will reflect the prime minister’s belief that the ungoverned space in northern Syria captured by Islamic State represents a security threat to the UK.

The government already has a large counter-terrorism bill going through the Commons, but Cameron has yet to reach deals with airlines on passenger checks or with phone companies on monitoring calls.

Cameron is putting pressure on the Labour party to back airstrikes against Isis in Syria and he will have been made more determined to put the issue to a Commons vote after the French president, François Hollande, announced he would back airstrikes and air reconnaissance.

As the prime minister prepared to make his statement, the former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell called for a “massive diplomatic effort” to allow for the creation of two safe havens in Syria to shelter the refugees.