The British government has announced a tightening of terrorist laws to combat the threat from radicalized British nationals travelling to fight in Iraq and Syria. CCTV America’s Richard Bestic reports from London.

The U.K. government said there are at least 500 young British nationals fighting alongside the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The killer of American journalist James Foley was almost certainly a Londoner.

In Britain, it prompted the terrorist threat level to be raised from ‘substantial’ to ‘severe.’ The British Prime Minister has said he’ll go further to stop Jihadists travelling to war by making it easier for police here to take away their passports.

“By providing the police with the temporary power to seize a passport at the border, during which time they will be able to investigate the individual concerned.” – David Cameron, U.K. Prime Minister

These powers will allow police to remove suspected jihadists from their communities without trial and to heighten surveillance.

Airlines will be required by law to provide passenger lists. Those suspected of terrorist activities will be forced to undergo de-radicalization programs.

“We are proud to be a open, free and tolerant nation,” said Cameron. “But that tolerance must never be confused with a passive acceptance of cultures, living separate lives, or people behaving in ways that run completely counter to our values.”

The much-vaunted plan to place a temporary ban on the return of British Jihadists to the U.K. will be subjected to further legal examination.

It’s a measure perhaps of the difficulty establishing new anti-terror laws that talks inside Britain’s coalition government continued to within hours of the U.K. Prime Minister’s Parliamentary statement.

The big fear politically is that the measures will be so draconian as to be self-defeating.  The tough new measures will face court challenge in the weeks and months ahead.