Cameron: United Kingdom must strike IS in Syria

The report says that we need the "capabilities which enable us to tackle immediate challenges, such as the threat from ISIL".

While British forces are taking part in air strikes on IS targets in Iraq, they are not involved in the worldwide effort targeting Syria due to resistance from opposition parties still mindful of previous unpopular interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Army Chief of Staff General Pierre de Villiers, aboard the carrier, said planes from the carrier would strike IS targets in Syria, including command and recruitment centres, in "a matter of hours or days".

Mr Cameron and Mr Hollande yesterday also stressed the need to improve intelligence sharing across the European Union, and the security of Europe's outer borders, to combat the threat of extremists returning to cause havoc from Syria and Iraq.

"President Hollande and I stood shoulder to shoulder outside the Bataclan Cafe in Paris", he said on .

The British leader said he had offered France the use of a strategically located British airbase in Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, to facilitate air strikes, and assistance with refuelling French jets.

France has taken this decision in September.

France has intensified its bombings in Syria since the November 13 attacks in Paris claimed by Islamic State that killed 130 people.

Unveiling his review of defence spending in the Commons on Monday, Cameron said: "On Thursday I will come to this House and make a further statement responding personally to the foreign affairs committee".

Speaking beside Cameron, Hollande said that while the United Kingdom must decide "how it can commit", France is "convinced that we must continue to strike Daesh in Syria".

"The SDSR has made interdependence between security at home and security overseas more of a reality", said Michael Clarke, head of the Royal United Services Institute defence think-tank in London.

Parliament will not be asked to authorise strikes until the Government believes it has a clear majority backing the plan, but with signs that a growing number of Labour MPs are prepared to ignore the objections of party leader Jeremy Corbyn, ministers appear increasingly confident they can win a vote.

The city remains on high alert over fears of a Paris-style IS attack. Later this week in parliament I will set out our comprehensive strategy for tackling ISIL.

Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the former head of Britain's chemical, biological and nuclear regiment, said: "Coalition troops overcame Iraqi forces within two weeks in 2003, and they were much better trained than IS fighters when it comes to things like using tanks".

Hollande said Britain and France must work together to fight the jihadists, adding: "We have joint obligations".

He lost a vote two years ago on the subject when the aim was ousting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, rather than destroying ISIS.