No hard feelings from Berlusconi as cathedral is granted £4m makeover

Ruth Gledhill and Silvia Cavasola in Rome

Last updated July 19 2010 12:47PM

Only months after he suffered a broken nose, fractured teeth and a split lip after being struck by a miniature statue of the Dome of Milan, the Italian Prime Minister has announced a €5 million (£4.2m) a year restoration programme for the symbol of the Lombard capital.

Silvio Berlusconi’s face bears no sign of the attack by a mentally ill man in Milan in December last year but his supporters hope that Mr Berlusconi’s reputation also will go some way to being restored by the government donation to the 14th-century cathedral.

Mr Berlusconi, 73, who has had cosmetic surgery to make him look more youthful, was lauded as a “great statesman” with “great charisma” and as a “man who leads the country with great responsibility and lucidity” by the president of Milan province Guido Podestà in an award ceremony at the Dome last night. At the €2,000 euro ticket event, which also included a performance by the “French Sinatra” Charles Aznavour, Mr Podesta described him as a “man who has exceptional human and entrepreneurial qualities”.

In an interview with the paper Corriere della Sera, Aznavour says he first met Mr Berlusconi 30 years ago and describes him as “interesting, intelligent, humorous” but emphasised that he was speaking about the person, not the politician.

But as the Italian Parliament’s lower house yesterday began debating an unprecedented programme of public spending cuts, already passed by the Senate or upper house, his enemies will not let him forget that it was his Government that cut the subsidy in 2008.

Opponents criticised the award. Filippo Penati, head of the Democratic Party in Milan and former president of the province, claimed the cause of the Dome had been hijacked for political purposes and the “cult of the personality” of Mr Berlusconi.

The Dome is regarded as an architectural, cultural and social emblem throughout Italy and the world and his presence there and the award is seen as an attempt to cultivate the northern federalists, Lega Nord.

It came as demonstrators gathered in Rome to protest against the public spending cuts on a day when the country’s health service was crippled by a 24-hour strike. The British Embassy reassured tourists there was no need for concern as temperatures hit 44C in Rome and 50C on the Metro, which has no air-conditioning. Emergency services such as ambulances are still operating.

However 40,000 operations have been cancelled and all non-emergency services shut as the country’s doctors, nurses and support staff strike over cuts in pay and conditions. Twelve thousand doctors on contracts are not having their positions renewed.

Today Italy’s parliament will debate a new “gag law” intended to clamp down on news reports before criminal trials. It carries a potential penalty of up to €450,000 for publishers and 30 days in jail or up to €10,000 for journalists who publish leaked material obtained through telephone wiretaps.

However, journalists working for Vatican Radio or L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, will continue to be able to publish pre-trial reports because the Vatican is a different state, observers said.