- The threat posed by the 'disease' of Islamic extremism will last for a generation, David Cameron warned today as he rejected claims Britain was not doing enough to take on ISIS.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, the Prime Minister insisted the government was doing all it could to 'defeat the monstrosity' of ISIS.
But he warned it would require 'long-term determination and perseverance' in a fight which might not end in his lifetime.
In a wide-ranging interview, answering questions submitted by MailOnline readers, Mr Cameron defended spending billions on foreign aid and breaking his promise to cut immigration.
The PM insisted the benefit cap was getting people back to work and suggested that we no longer live in what he once called 'broken Britain'.
The Tory leader claimed he was not scared of Nigel Farage, while pointedly refusing to rule out a coalition with Ukip.
And he revealed his last experience of using the NHS was when his son stood on a wasps nest, admitted to being a fan of Gogglebox and like every parent of young children spoke wearily of listening to the songs of Disney film Frozen over and over again.
The disease is the Islamist extremism and that's what we have to fight, that's the narrative that we have to beat
Prime Minister David Cameron
Many of the questions submitted by MailOnline readers demanded a tougher response from Britain to the threat posed by ISIS, not least since the horrific video posted online of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kassasbeh.
A damning report from the defence select committee today blasted the UK’s 'tiny' contribution to the fight against ISIS, also known as Isil, Daesh and Islamic State.
It found the UK has carried out just 6 per cent of air strikes against jihadists, the equivalent of just one per day.
But Mr Cameron told MailOnline: 'We are doing everything that we can to defeat the monstrosity of Isil.
'Look, we are taking action, we are the second nation in terms of bombing runs that have been carried out in Iraq.
'That is making a difference on the ground and we are seeing the growth of Iraqi security forces and Kurdish forces sweeping Isil out of parts of Iraq and we need a long term plan for both Iraq and Syria so we defeat Isil.'
'We have got to stop people travelling to Syria, we have got to prosecute those who have been and been radicalised and would do us harm.
These videos are absolutely horrific and depraved... I take the time to see what they are doing so I understand what families have been going through
'You have seen actually a big growth in the number of people in Britain who have been prosecuted and convicted for Islamist extremist violence. And we need to keep up our guard.'
Mr Cameron has read detailed reports of the latest video, in which al-Kassasbeh was set alight, but he has not actually watched it in full.
He did, however, view the footage of British hostages being beheaded last year.
'These videos are absolutely horrific and depraved,' the Prime Minister said.
'And obviously I take the time to see what they are doing so I understand what families have been going through.'
Asked if Britain would be free of the jihadist threat in his lifetime, he admitted it was a battle which would last many years.
'I think the threat of Islamist extremism is a threat that we are going to face throughout this generation. It is going to be years rather than months.'
While ISIS could be defeated eventually in Iraq and Syria, the 'disease' of Islamic extremism is spreading around the world and is harder to contain, he warned.
'What we have seen with Islamist extremism whether it is in Mali or Somalia or Afghanistan is that the disease is not necessarily the individual country.
'The disease is the Islamist extremism and that's what we have to fight, that's the narrative that we have to beat.
'We can overcome it because the overwhelming majority of Muslims want nothing to do with this.........lol. http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/
'They think it is a perversion of their religion. And we need them to help us to fight it and snuff it out.
'It can be done, we have seen movements like this eradicated in our history. We just need to show the long term determination and perseverance to do it in is case do.'
However, according to today's defence select committee report there were only three UK military personnel outside the Kurdish regions of Iraq, compared with 400 Australians, 280 Italians and 300 Spanish, when the MPs visited Iraq before Christmas.
The committee said it is ‘very surprising that the UK Government is doing so little’, given the rise of Islamic State has proven the ‘sum of all our fears’.
‘Given that Daesh is the most dramatic and significant threat to regional stability and international security to have emerged in the Middle East in decades, we are surprised and deeply concerned that the UK is not doing more,’ it added.
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