David Cameron will host Cobra meeting in response to Paris attacks

Prime Minister David Cameron convened a meeting of his government's emergency response committee to discuss the attacks in Paris which left over 120 people dead, as UK police prepared to step up security.

Britain's terrorism threat level stands at "severe", the second highest category which means a militant attack is considered highly likely.

Cameron will chair the meeting of the committee, known as Cobra, later on Saturday in London, where at the French embassy, the flag had been lowered to fly at half-mast.

The British Prime Minister called the attacks "horrifying and sickening" on his Twitter feed, having said on Friday he would help France in whatever way he could.

London Metropolitan Police Service's assistant commissioner Mark Rowley told the BBC that Britain's threat level was under constant review, adding that policing across the country would be strengthened, with additional officers and checks.

"We're strengthening our policing stance at the moment across the country," he said on Saturday.

A spokesman for the Met said that additional police patrols across London's popular West End theatre and restaurant district were planned for Saturday evening.

Britain's "severe" threat level has been in place since August 2014, when it was raised largely due to the danger the authorities say is posed by Islamic State fighters and the hundreds of Britons who have joined them.

The highest level is "critical", which means an attack is expected imminently.

News
Churches urged to be ready amid reports of growing Bible curiosity among young adults
Churches urged to be ready amid reports of growing Bible curiosity among young adults

A sharp rise in Bible sales and reports of growing spiritual curiosity among young adults in the UK has prompted calls for church leaders to be ready to respond. 

Memorial art for Holocaust heroine unveiled
Memorial art for Holocaust heroine unveiled

Haining said she'd be "back by lunch", in fact she was on her way to Auschwitz.

The Christian Churches and the Nazis
The Christian Churches and the Nazis

Why were so many German Christians supportive of the Nazis in their rise to power and why were so few involved in active opposition once the realities of the Third Reich became apparent? 

The problem with Labour’s Islamophobia definition
The problem with Labour’s Islamophobia definition

Whether it's called Islamophobia or "anti-Muslim hostility", the threat is the same.