LONDON—British Prime Minister David Cameron will begin to lay out his case this week for the Royal Air Force to start hitting ISIS targets in Syria, something he has been eager to do but feared being blocked by Parliament.
Speaking in Paris on Monday after meeting French President Francois Hollande, Cameron said the two leaders agreed to increase counterterrorism cooperation. He called for greater European Union-wide efforts to share intelligence to stop extremists and offered the use of the air base at Akrotiri on Cyprus for actions in Syria against the ISIS group.
“The United Kingdom will do all in our power to support our friend and ally France to defeat this evil death cult,” he said.
Cameron lost a vote in Parliament two years ago to allow attacks on Syria, and has been reluctant to even suggest another until he could be certain to win. The RAF is already participating in airstrikes in Iraq.
The mood in Parliament since then has changed. The previous vote was also directed at Bashar Assad’s government to deter the use of chemical weapons — not ISIS group extremists.
The attacks in Paris, the bombing of a Russian jetliner and the shootings of British tourists in Tunisia has brought the threat of the ISIS group close to home. The vote in the U.N. Security Council calling for action against the group may also sway the undecided.
