Speaking as he set out his case for air strikes against ISIS in Syria, Mr Fallon warned Britain could “easily” see a repeat of this month’s terror attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead and over 350 injured.

And he said Christmas shoppers and those in London, Manchester and Glasgow could be most at risk from ISIS, also known as Isil.

He said: “What happened in Paris and Brussels could easily happen in London.

“We have seen it in Paris, a European city, just two hours away, right on our doorstep.

“The threat from Isil is as potent here as it was real in Paris and Brussels.

“It could be London, it could be Manchester, it could be Glasgow.”

He said that the threat to the UK is “extremely high” - with festive shoppers in the run-in to Christmas particularly at risk.

He said: “We have seen threats to shopping centres in the past.

“We have had terrorists convicted of making threats to shopping centres in the past but we mustn’t be cowed by these risks.”

“It is a risk that is already there.”

He said about 12 attacks had been foiled in recent months,Express reported.

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