UK spy numbers 'to reach record levels'

David Cameron's announcement of the hiring of 1,900 new spies will push the total in service in the UK to about 14,600, according to the Reuters news agency.

The British prime minister said the IS attack in Paris showed the West was locked in a "generational struggle that demands we provide more manpower to combat those who would destroy us and our values".

Reuters said the expansion would boost the domestic MI5 spy service, MI6 foreign intelligence agency and the GCHQ eavesdropping centre.

The British government also plans to double spending on aviation security, Reuters said, following the downing of a Russian airliner in Egypt last month.