Britain is “united in shock and grief”, the prime minister has said, as it emerged the British death toll in the Tunisian attack will rise above 30.
A total of 38 people were killed by a gunman with links to Islamic State extremists on a beach near Sousse.
David Cameron urged a fightback, vowing the UK would show “unshakeable resolve” in dealing with extremism.
He stressed the need to reject those who condone the “extremist narrative”.
Tributes are continuing to be paid to the British victims, who include three generations of the same family, university graduates and a husband who died trying to shield his wife.
A number of British tourists remain missing, with their relatives continuing to face an agonising wait for news.
None of the dead have been officially identified but the names of some were confirmed by friends and family:
- Carly Lovett, 24, a beauty blogger and photographer from Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, who had been on holiday with her fiance
- Sue Davey and her partner Scott Chalkley, both in their 40s and from Tamworth, whose deaths were confirmed by their respective sons who had launched social media campaigns to find them
- Adrian Evans, his father, 78-year-old Patrick Evans and nephew Joel Richards, 19, from Wednesbury, West Midlands. Joel’s brother Owen, 16, survived the attack
-
- Bruce Wilkinson, 72, a retired power station worker from Goole in East Riding, who was described as a “devoted husband, father and grandfather”
- Lisa Burbidge, in her 60s, from Whickham, Gateshead, whose family said they had been left “with a massive hole in our hearts”
- Claire Windass, 54, from Hull, who had been on the beach with her husband, who survived
-
- Jim and Ann McQuire, from Cumbernauld, whose names were announced at their local church. Friends have said they still “can’t make sense of it”
- Trudy Jones, 52, from Blackwood, in Caerphilly county, who was described as “popular and always smiling”
- Stephen Mellor, 59, from Bodmin in Cornwall, who was killed trying to shield his wife Cheryl. She said the couple had huddled together and said “I love you” when the shooting started
Carly Lovett Three Irish people were also killed, along with one Belgian and one German, and Tunisians are also thought to be among the dead. At least 36 people were injured.
The number of British victims – which currently stands at 15 – will rise to at least 30 once the formal identification process is complete.
But it is also understood the process is taking time because of stringent Tunisian regulations, including the local coroner’s requirement for medical or dental records.
The UK government also suggested officials were having difficulty identifying British victims as many were not carrying identification and because the injured were being moved between hospitals.
Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Cameron said that as the identities of the dead continued to emerge the full “horror” of events was becoming clear.
“But we will not be cowed,” he said. “To our shock and grief we must add another word: resolve. Unshakeable resolve. We will stand up for our way of life.
“So ours must be a full-spectrum response – a response at home and abroad; in the immediate aftermath and far into the future.”
He said the Islamic State group used social media as its “primary weapon” and police and security services must have “the tools they need to root out this poison”.
Mr Cameron – who will chair another meeting of the Cobra emergency committee on Monday morning – said it was also vital to confront the “poisonous ideology” behind attacks like that carried out in Tunisia.
“We must be stronger at standing up for our values – of peace, democracy, tolerance, freedom,” he said.
“We must be more intolerant of intolerance – rejecting anyone whose views condone the Islamist extremist narrative and create the conditions for it to flourish.”
