Berlusconisation of Britain

scotsman: It is a country in chaos. Two contending leaders grapple ruthlessly for power in a culture of blatant corruption where the police investigate a prime minister who, despite his repeated moving of the goal posts and influence in media circles, has become an object of distrust and dislike to many. Nobody knows where authority resides. It is a shambles. And there are problems in Italy too.

It may seem a harsh comparison, but has Tony Blair's Berlusconisation of Britain brought him to the verge of his own downfall? He has been Teflon-coated for so long that it has become difficult to imagine any new scandal encompassing his political destruction. Bernie Ecclestone, Mandelson, Hinduja, Byers, Cheriegate - he has ridden out every storm with a grin and the assurance that he is a "pretty straight sort of guy". It also seems implausible that a prime minister obsessed with modernity and leading what he calls - mistakenly - "a young country" could succumb to a scandal that revolves around coronets, ermine and other trappings of feudalism.

Yet very often in politics it is the unlikely factor that proves fatal. It is a measure of the decline of the status and repute of government that the police are now considering interviewing the Prime Minister under caution. It is the kind of scandal in high places more usually associated with Italian government: is this what Blair meant by putting Britain at the heart of Europe? Read more