Romina McGuinness, Express, June 22, 2017

French interior minister Gérard Collomb said on Tuesday the French domestic terror threat level could not be reduced and that the risk of an attack remained a case of when, not if.

Hundreds of French Islamic State (ISIS) militants will be returning to France soon, Mr Collomb warned

He said: “The terrorist threat to France shows no sign of abating. The hardest is predicting when and where terrorists will attack.

“Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing because the new generation of terrorists launch attacks anywhere and at any time.

“There are now estimated to be more than 690 French citizens in ISIS-controlled Syria or Iraq and around a third are women and child soldiers.

“Right now they are stuck and unable to return to France because Syria and Turkey have shut down the main route into Europe. But they will be coming home soon.”

Mr Collomb also spoke about President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to enshrine in ordinary law some measures currently in place under a state of emergency.

He told French news daily Le Figaro the new anti-terrorism legislation would guarantee the security of citizens, but also respect the rule of law and freedom of speech.

The new legislation would include four flagship measures: the creation of clearly defined security perimeters around potential terror targets, the immediate closure of radical places of worship which incite terrorism, replacing house arrest with personalised measures or electronic monitoring, and appointing a judge to issue search warrants.

Mr Collomb also commented on the migrant crisis in Calais, and said moving border checks back to Britain would be “problematic,” adding the creation of “another” ‘Jungle’ refugee camp would be a huge blow to the government and would be seen as a symbol of “failure”.