Poll suggests that Marine Le Pen will be defeated

Even though opinion polling has taken a battering — Cameron, Brexit, Trump, etc — those who cling to the idea that the European Union, for all its myriad faults, still offers the best prospect for stability and prosperity will be cheered by the news that, for the first time, a poll predicts that Emmanuel Macron will beat Marine Le Pen in both rounds of France’s presidential election.

Ms Le Pen has promised that, if elected, she will do all she can to get France to replicate Britain’s unfortunate decision to quit the EU.

Suggestions from the wilder, Rule Britannia wing of the Brexit movement that the EU will fade away once Britain leaves can be discounted like most of their arguments, but should France also file for divorce that prospect becomes an open question if not a probability.