Future imperative: The Grand Amphitheatre of the Sorbonne in Paris

(Photograph) - Future imperative: The Grand Amphitheatre of the Sorbonne in Paris. Last weekend 15,000 students from all over France crowded into the university to cross question a glittering array of their country's leaders plus a few visiting foreigners about the future prospects for a generation now facing 25 per cent unemployment.

The fourth Cite de la Reussite since 1989 attracted large-scale corporate sponsorship and provided fine spectator sport as fierce clashes broke out over the threat posed to French language and French culture by the Anglo-Saxon menace.