A fight the civilised world must not lose

IN his heartfelt message of solidarity and deep condolence to the people of France after Friday’s terrorist carnage, David Cameron spoke not just for the British nation but for the civilised world. ‘Your pain is our pain, your fight is our fight.’

On this occasion, the nihilistic butchers of Islamic State chose Paris as their killing ground, wiping out 129 innocent lives in an utterly terrifying and indiscriminate orgy of gunfire and bombing.

But anyone who thinks British cities are not firmly in their sights is deluding themselves.

Disturbingly, at least two of the killers appear to have migrated from Syria – posing as refugees – to cross the porous borders of Turkey and into Greece.

Once inside the Schengen area of the EU, they travelled freely into France and Belgium, where at least three more of the terror gang lived. They then loaded up with weapons and wreaked havoc on one of Europe’s great capital cities.

Chillingly, their targets appear to have been selected precisely because they had no military or government connections. They were mainly young people on a night out; music and sports fans enjoying the charms of Parisian café society.

If we are serious about preventing – or at least limiting – such attacks in future, uncontrolled migration from the Middle East must be stopped and border controls within Europe imposed immediately.

Several EU countries have already secured their frontiers and more are likely to follow as Schengen disintegrates. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s reckless open-door invitation must be reversed and proper checks made on who is coming in. And crucially, Brussels must work harder with Turkey to restrict the waves of migrants flooding into Europe.