In town tonight

Eliane Elias -  owner of the most misspelt first name since Thelonious Monk - opens at Ronnie Scott's tonight. Jazz meets bossa. Can't wait.

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The Sultan of Rome

John Lloyd reviews a couple of new books devoted to the mystery that is Silvio Berlusconi:

Giovanni Sartori, doyen of Italian political scientists and a columnist for Corriere della Sera, has come up with a word for Berlusconi’s particular form of rule. It is not, he says – in opposition to those who see a black shirt beneath the flawless suits – a dictatorship. Instead, it is a “Sultanate”, in which Berlusconi rules “over a paper party literally prostrate at his feet. He nominates whatever ministers he wants, fires whom he wants, as if they were his service staff.”  Add to that the prime minister’s ability to nominate whom he wishes as a member of parliament through party control of the electoral lists, as well as his tendency to promote beautiful young women irrespective of their professional and political (in)experience and (in)abilities, and you have, Sartori believes,

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Day of rest

Bill Brandt's photograph of two women relaxing at a holiday camp for war workers at Cookham in Berkshire. The shot first appeared in a Picture Post article published in 1942 [Source: Getty Images.]

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What do the (new) Tories want?

Blarite Matthew Taylor grapples with the meaning of "progressive conservatism".

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Boris's advice

He's not going to endear himself to the Islamophobes:

Whether it is in theatre, comedy, sports, music or politics, Muslims are challenging the traditional stereotypes and showing that they are, and want to be, a part of the mainstream community.That is why I urge people, particularly during Ramadan, to find out more about Islam, increase your understanding and learning, even fast for a day with your Muslim neighbour and break your fast at a local mosque.

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