LONDON -- Prime Minister David Cameron met with intelligence and security chiefs at Downing Street on Monday morning to examine the risks of a Paris-style attack happening in the UK.
It was agreed that future counterterrorism exercises would look at integrating elements of the attacks in the French capital last week, which left a total of 20 dead, including three gunmen.
"For future exercises, the relevant agencies should identify whether there are any further specific elements of the Paris attack that should be built into the exercise scenarios," a spokesperson for Downing Street said in a statement after the meeting.
Downing Street, police and intelligence agencies agreed that they would "step up" the UK's efforts to crack down on the smuggling of weapons across borders.
Following the meeting, Cameron tweeted:
I've had a full briefing from security chiefs. We discussed ensuring the UK is properly protected from the terrorist threat. #CharlieHebdo.— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) January 12, 2015
The terror threat level remains at "severe," which means an attack is highly likely. It has remained at this level since August 2014.
Cameron also said Monday that if Conservatives get elected in the general election in May with an majority, they will introduce a controversial data bill that will become known as the "snoopers' charter".
The Conservatives' partners in government, the Liberal Democrats, are against the Draft Communications Data Bill, which would require Internet service providers to keep records of their users' activity such as web browsing, emails, voice calls and messaging for a year.
Civil liberties campaigners have described the draft legislation as a blanket regime, which would give the government unprecedented powers.