Wind of No Change

The Italian Prime Minister, and Clown Prince of the EU, Silvio Berlusconi, has today discovered a leader who can outdo him in sheer ridiculousness. Yes, today he has greeted Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, who has fetched up at Roma Ciampino with his all-female bodyguard (forty of them) at the start of a state visit. The Guardian has featured a photo in this article which gives the impression that Gaddafi’s legendary flatulence is the real deal.

Berlusconi’s guest seems to confirm what John Prescott’s recent past has already suggested: that you can fart and still pull. It’s an inspiration to all those of us who fail to be anally retentive in the aftermath of consuming anything containing a modicum of roughage.

But seriously, what is Gaddafi doing in Italy? Well, as the Guardian article points out, the Italians have stumped up a cool five billion dollars as a way of making amends for the occupation of the 1930s. But, as ever, there is a quid pro quo. Libya will act on the migrants arriving in Italy from its shores. This has raised eyebrows, as some see it as giving “Duce” Berlusconi the means of dumping illegal immigrants in Libya, leaving the good Colonel and his less than benign regime to deal with them as they see fit.

However, nobody looks to be shouting too loudly against the measure. Moreover, it would be no surprise to find that governments in Spain, France, Greece and Malta were observing with interest.

Watch this space.