France has spoken and it is not a pretty sound. Sunday's rejection of the European Union's constitutional treaty amounted to a cry of rage and fear. It has exposed crises of leadership and reform in France and the wider EU.

At one level, it is difficult to argue with a 56 per cent vote on a high turnout of 70 per cent. And if there is any comfort to be drawn from this seismic event, it is that the French No vote may force the EU political class to pay attention at last to the views of electors and abandon the top-down elitism on which the European project has moved forward.