Barack Obama and David Cameron vow to crush terror threat as PM flies to US

 
Terror threat pledge: David Cameron and Barack Obama (Getty)
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David Cameron and Barack Obama today vowed to tackle “evil terrorists” after the Paris atrocities.

As the Prime Minister flew to Washington for talks with the US president, the two leaders stressed strong economies were vital for national security.

Mr Cameron, who is on a two-day visit to the American capital, will push for action to ensure US-based social media companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, co-operate with intelligence agencies in the battle against terrorism.

Senior MPs condemned Facebook last year for failing to pass on information that may have prevented the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby in London.

In a joint article for The Times, the leaders wrote: “We reaffirm our belief that our ability to defend our freedoms is rooted in our economic strength, and the values that we cherish — freedom of expression, the rule of law, and strong democratic institutions.” Mr Cameron has pledged to give security services more powers to monitor online exchanges between terror suspects and will raise the problem of terrorists using social media firms to plot.

A government source said: “The Prime Minister’s objective here is to get the US companies to cooperate with us more to make sure that our intelligence agencies get the information they need to keep us safe.

“That will be his approach in the discussion with President Obama, how they work together to get them to cooperate more.”

During a working dinner at the White House Mr Cameron and Mr Obama will focus on the economy, including the proposed free trade agreement between the EU and US. Business deals worth £1 billion to Britain will be announced during the visit.

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