France’s deplorable election has unified voters in disgust

I popped into the village pharmacy this morning with a prescription for valium. Not for me, I hasten to add, but for my epileptic dog. But I am sorely tempted to divert one or two doses for my personal use, as I prepare to help count the votes on Sunday night in the first round of the French presidential election. I do not think it is exaggerating to wonder if, on the eve of voting, the fifth republic is going to collapse with a bang or a whimper. It may not even be necessary to wait for the second round of voting in a fortnight. There is a scenario in which it could all start to fall apart as soon as Monday morning, if the leading candidates in the run-off are Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Although nominally at the extremes of left and right, they share economic policies that are suicidal.