Are we going to war over IS? David Cameron says UK “ready to play its part”
Speaking at the UN in New York, Prime Minister David Cameron has said the UK is ready to “play its part” in the fight against extremist group the Islamic State (IS).
He said the militant group was an “evil against which the whole world must unite”, adding past mistakes did not count as an “excuse for indifference or inaction”, referring to the war in Iraq a decade ago.
Notorious for the brutal methods it adopts as it tries to introduce a “caliphate” or religious state in the region, IS has taken over large swathes of northern Iraq and Syria in recent months.
The latest announcement by Cameron follows Tuesday's attacks against the extremist group in Syria by the US and Arab nations – until then attacks had been limited to northern Iraq.
The Prime Minister said while he did not believe western countries should send ground troops to fight, there was nonetheless a place for action by armed forces. In particular, he said Western forces could equip, train and support those who are "fighting on the front line for their societies and for their countries and for their freedom".
Later today the UK cabinet will discuss plans for air strikes against IS in Iraq, with a parliamentary vote due to take place tomorrow.
How markets could be affected by attacks on IS
Historically, terrorism-related events have not had as much impact on the market as might be expected. In fact, it seems that the more terror threats (and attacks) there have been, the more resilient markets have become.
On 10 August 2006, when terror threats were published for the first time following a thwarted transatlantic attack, the FSTE 100 experienced a slight decline compared with the day before, falling from 5,823 pence to 5,820 pence.
Then, following attempted terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow in 2007, the index closing price actually rose when the threat level was raised to critical in the UK.
In 2010, attacks had a slightly bigger impact, bringing pushing its closing price from 5,303 to 5,260 pence, but the change was still not a significant one – so the FTSE 100 is unlikely to take a big hit from Cameron's latest announcement.