Philippe – seen by many as Le Pen’s strongest centrist opponent – tweeted at the weekend that the scenes in Ceuta were ‘serious and unacceptable’. Le Pen retweeted Philippe’s remarks with a reminder that when he was PM (between 2017 and 2022) he granted 30 per cent more residence permits and 60 per cent more refugee permits year than under the Socialist government of François Hollande. Last week may well be the week when Le Pen won the presidential election. Le Pen tweeted that ‘eradicating Islamism is a daily battle’ and attacks perpetrated in its name must not be ‘swept under the carpet to avoid naming the evil’. If Le Pen is elected president, centre-left Socialists like Macron and Sanchez will have only themselves to blame.