Silvio is losing it

I have to admit that politics in this country can be less than exciting (not least when facing yet another First Minister's Questions in the Scottish Parliament). How refreshing, therefore, to see that our Italian confreres know of no bounds when it comes to going over the top. Consider the following exchange, reported in The Independent:

And so the Prime Minister has gone on the offensive. His tirades against a judiciary and a media he believes to be pursuing a personal vendetta against him have the familiarity of a broken record. But eyebrows were raised in Turin on Tuesday night, when he opened both barrels on Mercedes Bresso, the bespectacled, centre-left governor of the northern Piemonte region.

"You know why Bresso is always in a bad mood?" the 73-year-old chortled. "Because in the morning when she gets up, she looks at herself in the mirror to put her make-up on – and sees herself. And so her day is already ruined."

Ms Bresso, 65, hit back immediately at the permatanned leader, who has admitted to succumbing to the plastic surgeon's knife. "I'm always in a good mood. And regarding make up, I don't use much; I don't need it as much as Berlusconi. I'm young, in good shape and haven't had a facelift."

Extraordinary. Impossible to imagine Brown or Salmond saying anything similar to il cavaliere.

(At least, not in public ...)