French students and unions rejected yesterday Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin?s offer of talks on his youth labour law, demanding he abandon the measure as the price for ending rolling street protests.

Facing the biggest threat to his 10-month premiership, Villepin went on national television on Sunday to defend his CPE youth labour law, offering instead to negotiate new guarantees with unions and employers to head off criticism.

His offer came the day after riot police smashed their way into Paris?s Sorbonne University to end the first student occupation there since a May 1968 student revolt that weakened his political idol Charles de Gaulle.

?We are always ready to negotiate on youth employment and job insecurity. But first of all, he has to withdraw the CPE. Otherwise, what?s to negotiate?? Jean-Claude Mailly, secretary general of the Force Ouvriere union told the Liberation daily.

Villepin has appeared isolated over the crisis within the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), where many deputies are unhappy with his decision to ram the plan through parliament against ministers? advice and without consulting unions.

Analysts say Villepin needs a swift end to the protests if he is to avoid fatal damage to his thinly veiled ambition to contest 2007 presidential polls. On Sunday the prime minister vowed to forge ahead with his drive to loosen rigid labour laws for people under the age of 26, but invited unions to talks in April on combating job insecurity.

?I think Villepin is confusing authority with stubbornness,? said Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande, who scoffed at Villepin?s talks offer as a clumsy ruse to defuse the protests. Hollande called on President Jacques Chirac to intervene and questioned how long Villepin could survive in office if the protests ? fresh demonstrations are planned today, Thursday and Saturday ? continued to swell.

?Either (Chirac) supports his prime minister and so participates in this stubbornness, or he tries himself to take the decision his prime minister doesn?t want to take, cannot take. ?Are we sure that, over the coming days, the coming weeks, the prime minister can survive,? Hollande said on Canal+ television.

Commentators said Villepin had embarked on a high risk strategy by defending his decision to fast-track the measure through parliament.?Double or Quits? ran the headline in the Le Parisien newspaper. ?Villepin Barricades Himself In? said the left-leaning daily Liberation.

Villepin said his critics had forgotten too quickly that autumn riots in poor French suburbs were blamed in part on high unemployment, hence the need to act quickly.

?When youth unemployment in the suburbs is 40 to 50 percent, what do we do? Judging by the comments of some people you?d think everything is going well ... What do we do, just fold our arms as we have done for years or tackle the problem?? he said.

His First Employment Contract (CPE) allows bosses to fire young people without reason for up to two years in the hope this will also encourage firms to be bolder in their hiring.

Students say this discriminates against youngsters while unions say firing without explanation is wrong in principle.

<B>Jon Boyle</B>