You can't blame him for wanting to try and keep a language that has been around in it's current form longer than ours [in fact, as Rhys pointed out, in the 1700's it was the French dignitaries over here that helped develop English and started using it around the world - read Bill Brysons "Mother Tongue" ]

It was UNDENIABLY a stunt for the French Media and the voters and IMO is pretty naive to think there's much more to it than that.

Imagine this scenario, as Brits a large proportion are against the idea of the Euro as the national currency [for whatever reasons]. So there's a meeting in Brussels about spreading the Euro even further to cover those countries that have not yet adopted it... Blair walks out.

In the Sun the next day you get "Tony sticks his middle finger up the Euro" or whatever and suddenly, everyone in the country comes out the woodwork to pat him on the back for trying to keep some semblance of sovereignty. Guaranteed re-election

Chirac may look like a podgy count dracula, but he ain't stupid