THATCHERISM, ITALIAN-STYLE:

Berlusconi models his comeback on Blair: Controversial tycoon demands snap elections after the squabbles that brought down Prodi - and proposes a 'very British' 10-point plan (Tom Kington, January 27, 2008, Observer)

Silvio Berlusconi has put a very British stamp on his comeback campaign, promising to govern for three years, if elected, with a pragmatic rather than ideological approach modelled on Tony Blair - before handing over to an 'Italian Gordon Brown'.

'Berlusconi will propose a very simple, very pragmatic and very British eight-to-ten-point plan, similar in style to Tony Blair, whose achievements Berlusconi really admires and with whom he always had an excellent relationship,' his spokesman, Paolo Bonaiuti, told The Observer yesterday.

While the effect of Bush/Blair on the Middle East, it is just as profound in Western Europe.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 26, 2008 10:02 PM