David Cameron pledges £2m towards special forces

David Cameron has appealed to Britons’ “Blitz spirit” in tackling the threat from terrorism in the wake of the Paris attacks as he announced £2 billion extra for special forces in a keynote speech last night.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron wants to launch military strikes on IS positions in Syria. Picture: PA

Speaking at the Guildhall in the City of London, the Prime Minister compared the extremist Islamic State terrorists to the Nazis in the Second World War and called on British citizens to show resolve in the face of evil. It comes ahead of a speech today where Chancellor George Osborne will pledge that the UK will be the best protected country in the world from cyber attacks as the UK government vowed to lobby European counterparts for tougher laws to crack down on terrorism.

Ahead of next week’s unveiling of the strategic defence and security review, Mr Osborne will say in a speech as GCHQ in Cheltenham that a new cyber attack unit is to be set up with the world’s first national cyber attack centre.

He will also confirm that there will be a 15 per cent increase in the number of security agents working for MI5, MI6 and GCHQ in the wake of the attacks in Paris last Friday.

Mr Osborne will say that the new agents will come with an increase of £1.9 billion in spending on the security services as the UK attempts to tighten up its protections against attacks from Islamic State and other extremist groups. Home Secretary Theresa May told Parliament she expects more to be done by European partners, appealing for new gun control laws and border controls.

Mr Cameron said last night that resources made available for the UK’s defence next week need to “increase both its hard and soft power” and boost its influence in the world.

The Prime Minister recalled how Winston Churchill had vowed that “however long and hard the toil may be, the British nation would never enter into negotiations with Hitler”.

And he added: “It is that same resolve that will defeat this ­terrorism and ensure that the values we believe in – and the values we defend – will again in the end prevail.”