THE tragic events in Paris brought into focus what David Cameron has called the 'evil death cult’ of Da’esh.

We have not yet got to grips with what we should call these murderers who kill so indiscriminately. There is (so called) Islamic State, ISIL, ISIS and Da’esh. But whatever we call them, we all agree they are utterly barbaric.

As well as the Paris attacks, we have seen Da’esh-backed terrorism in Belgium, Denmark, Lebanon, Turkey and Kuwait as well as the ongoing violence in Syria and Iraq. Earlier this year, 30 British holidaymakers were killed on the beach in Tunisia and it has been confirmed that the Russian plane that crashed in the Sinai desert earlier this month was brought down by a bomb. The threat is real.

In response to the attacks, the UK is set to double the funding to fight cybercrime to £1.9bn a year.

This will protect against hackers gaining control of the UK's electricity supply or air traffic control systems.

The Government has also announced more funding for the SAS and specialist units, plus an extra 1,900 security and intelligence officers at MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.

While the overall terror threat has not increased, it is severe, which means a terrorist threat is ‘highly likely.’ Security has been intensified at cities and at the UK’s borders.

Since Friday my inbox has been filled with suggestions of how to deal with Da’esh.

A popular suggestion is bombing the group into oblivion but I am yet to be convinced that bombing alone will deal with well-organised and well-funded terror gangs.

Also popular is to reject all action in the hope that they will leave us alone. Given their stated goal is to create a broad Islamic caliphate, coupled with the fact that they hate our ‘Western’ way of life, this is a dangerous tactic.

They hate us, our history, our identity and our values. Doing nothing isn't an option. Some suggest we engage in diplomatic talks with their ‘leadership’. This will be impossible given the barbarity of the regime.

One common suggestion is to prevent the deaths of innocent civilians by closing Europe’s borders to refugees.

This argument is greatly undermined because it would condemn untold numbers of innocents to death.

The defeating of Da’esh will be complex, time-consuming, expensive, probably involve grubby compromises with unsavoury individuals who we would rather not deal with, but defeating it is vital.

No military option should be off the table but if and when Parliament votes on military action I will approach a decision of such gravity with deep thought.

One day we will win the fight against such evil but we won’t win if we don’t act.