The literature was being openly distributed outside Topshop stores on Oxford Street

Britain will take part in a humanitarian mission to rescue stranded Yazidis in Iraq from the Kurdish mountains but will not fight Isis directly, David Cameron announced today.

Returning from his Portugal holiday a few hours early than expected, the prime minister rebuffed calls from senior figures in all three parties to recall parliament.

He said that the priority for Britain was to address the humanitarian crisis rather engage in a military confrontation with extremist fighters from the group Islamic State (IS).

Following a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee, he said that “detailed plans are now being put in place” for an international mission to rescue stranded Yazidis in Iraq and that Britain “will play a role in delivering it”.

One government source said