Keith Vaz

The United Kingdom police must urgently set up round-the-clock communications with their counterparts in Turkey to stop Britons crossing into territory controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), The Guardian quoted a member of the U.K. parliament as saying. 

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu has ruled out placing British ?police spotters? in Istanbul in order to stop foreigners from travelling across the Turkish border to join jihadi militant groups in Syria and Iraq.

Britain is seeking to better help Turkey prevent foreigners crossing into Syria to join jihadist groups, the chairman of the U.K.'s Home Affairs Select Committee stated on March 3.

"I do not think it is the job of the Turkish police and the Turkish authorities to chase our citizens. This all has to be done with cooperation," said Keith Vaz at the committee.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Saturday congratulated Romania's Ambassador to the UK Ion Jinga, after the latter was awarded the title "Diplomat of the Year 2015," within an event hosted by the House of Commons.

Photo credit: (c) Liviu SOVA / AGERPRES PHOTO

Predictions that workers from Bulgaria and Romania would arrive en masse in the UK after the removal of remaining work restrictions in January appeared disproved by new statistics showing the total number working in the UK had actually fallen in the last three months.

The government “increased anti-immigrant prejudice” by failing to estimate the number of Bulgarians and Romanians coming to UK after the work restrictions ended, UK MPs said.

The forecasts for a steep increase of immigrants from those two countries proved wrong, concluded a British parliamentary committee.