British Prime Minister David Cameron is warning that the threat to the U.K. from international terrorism is "greater and deeper" than ever before, as London raised its terror warning level in response to what it said were plans by the Islamic State and other extremist groups to attack the West.
Although ratcheting up to the "severe," the second-highest level indicating the the risk of an attack is considered "highly likely," authorities have not offered evidence of a specific or immediate plot. The level has been higher in the past – at "critical" in 2006 and again in 2007.
Ahead of Cameron's remarks, Theresa May of the U.K.'s Joint Terrorism Analysis Center Ahead said some plots "are likely to involve foreign fighters who have traveled there from the U.K. and Europe to take part in those conflicts."
The prime minister expressed particular concern about what he said were at least 500 people who had traveled from the U.K. "to fight in Syria and potentially Iraq." British authorities have been trying to track down the assassin of American journalist James Foley, who spoke with a British accent on the videotape released by his Islamic State captors.
Professor Andrew Silke from the University of East London tells the BBC that he believes today's announcement is a reaction to the killing of Foley.
Cameron said the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, poses a "greater and deeper threat to our security than we have known before."
"We are in the middle of a generational struggle," Cameron said, adding that it could take years. "The scale of this threat is growing."
He said there is "no doubt" that the Islamic State is targeting "all of us in Western Europe.
"Britain is an open, tolerant and free nation," but it will take steps to stop people traveling by seizing their passports if they're deemed a threat, Cameron said.
He said it is important to make a distinction between religion and political ideology. The religion of Islam, he said, "inspires millions to countless acts of kindness," but Islamic extremism is a political ideology that "is in the minority.
"We cannot appease this ideology," he said.
The BBC says the threat level went to "critical" in Aug. 2006, after police uncovered a plot to blow up passenger planes and again in June 2007 after an attack at Glasgow airport. The last time it was changed was in 2011, when it was lowered to "substantial."
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