France's ruling Socialists have tried to ban National Front from a peace march

Her party the Front National is expected to receive higher poll ratings

Comes after she said 'Islamic fundamentalism' had declared war on France

punishment if she were to be elected

Marine Le Pen talks to media after meeting with French president Francois Hollande yesterday. She was called for a return of the death penalty in the wake of the Paris terror attacks

The French National Front leader has called for a return of the death penalty in the wake of the Paris terror attacks as her far-right party is expected to receive a boost in the polls.

Marine Le Pen said she believed that France should have corporal punishment in their 'legal arsenal' and pledged that if she were to be elected president in 2017, she would offer a national referendum on the issue.

It comes after she said that 'Islamic fundamentalism' had declared war on France and she demanded strong, effective action to tackle it.

Miss Le Pen's resurgent Front National is expected to be receive higher poll ratings following the attack on the Paris office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday after they published cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad.

Speaking to French broadcaster France 2, she said: 'I have always said that I would offer French citizens the possibility to express themselves on the issue through a referendum.'

However, while she was careful to draw a distinction between Muslim citizens who share French values and 'those who kill in the name of Islam', her father, National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, and her deputy, Florian Philippot, were less cautious.

Mr Philippot told RTL radio: 'Anyone who says Islamist radicalism has nothing to do with immigration is living on another planet.'

Meanwhile, it has been reported that France's ruling Socialists have tried to ban the National Front from a peace march for Charlie Hebdo shooting victims.

French president Francois Hollande's Socialists called this week for a show of national unity on Sunday in support of Charlie Hebdo and media freedom.

But the mood of unity lasted just hours, as the march's organiser said there would be 'no room' for the anti-EU, anti-immigration National Front.

Miss Le Pen's party won the highest score of any in European parliamentary elections last May and several polls suggest she could reach the runoff round of a 2017 presidential election.

Police and rescue workers gather outside the the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Wednesday, where 12 people were shot dead by Said and Cherif Kouachi

On the run: French police surrounded an area north-east of Paris where the armed men, who killed 12 people in Paris on Wednesday, are believed to be hiding

'The idea of national unity has been totally undermined, and we will face up to the consequences,' Le Pen told Le Monde newspaper, calling the move to exclude her from a group of politicians to lead the march a 'pitiful political manoeuvre'.

Socialist Party leader Jean-Christophe Cambadelis later qualified the ban saying 'anyone who wanted to and felt concerned' could participate.

Mr Hollande met with Le Pen as well as other party leaders at his offices, as hundreds of police faced off with suspected shooters in an industrial facility northeast of Paris.

Francois Hollande, pictured, met with Miss Le Pen as well as other party leaders at his offices, as hundreds of police faced off with suspected shooters in an industrial facility northeast of Paris

But analysts say that Le Pen is set to reap gains from her exclusion and willingness to use strong words to describe the attack, ahead of two local elections this year in which the Socialists are seen suffering further defeats.

'We're at a tipping point,' said Francois Miquet-Marty, an analyst for polling agency Viavoice.