Forced into a supranational straitjacket, European voters have rebelled | Simon Jenkins

With barely half the continent now in favour of union, EU leaders can no longer ignore the writing on the wall

Yesterday's European vote was not an election, it was a referendum. Britain's Ukip will in time slide from the stage, as will France's National Front. The vote does not upheave party politics: it was the emphatic assertion of Euro-scepticism, the moment when a critical mass of Europe's voters withdrew their consent from ever greater union.

Voters long accustomed to trust their ruling e...