Watch David Cameron announce 5-year plan to tackle Islamic extremism in Britain

The Prime Minister rejects the notion that Western foreign policy contributed to the rise of Isis and its popularity among Muslim populations in the West

(Dan Kitwood - WPA Pool | Getty Images)

David Cameron has argued that young Muslims are drawn to fundamentalist Islam in the same way young Germans were attracted to fascism in the 20th century.

The Prime Minister delivered a speech in Birmingham setting out a five-year strategy to combat Isis-inspired radicalisation.

Mr Cameron said Islamic extremist ideology is based on the same intolerant ideas of “discrimination, sectarianism and segregation” that led to the rise of Hitler and that still exist in the far right.

Downing Street said Mr Cameron was determined to make tackling Islamic extremism in Britain a central priority over the next five years with a comprehensive strategy that involved not just the police and the criminal justice system but also “softer interventions” to tackle the root causes of radicalisation.