He is a former member of the Labour Party, who knows Blair and some of his closest buddies better than they realise, yet. He has a challenging job in the real world, working for a profit-making private company and not sponging off the taxpayer in politics, journalism or the civil service. This hue and cry has been taken up throughout the European press , creating an impression of European condemnation of Berlusconi. The Italian left has clutched this convenient straw, saying that if Berlusconi is elected then Italy will be isolated. Now usually I would not complain.
Democracy means that parties have to use whatever weapons they have to hand.
Similarly newspapers have their own views, and it is only a little odd if a London paper is pontificating on Italian politics. What stinks, to high heaven, is when this is not merely an opinion but a government inspired smear. This is compounded by the Economist 's practice of not naming authors, except on high profile pieces. Surely a report as serious as this requires a by line and if it had not been written by a member of the government then the Economist would have nothing to hide. Obviously, it is also designed to hide its use as a platform for Government smears.