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The Daily Cartoon

Dave Brown

Monday 06 December 2010

Inside Opinion

Is Silvio Berlusconi losing his Teflon coating? Gianfranco Fini believes he has sufficient support among the centre-right to call time on his entertaining but controversial reign

The last days of Silvio Berlusconi

Peter Popham: Correspondents in Italy are dusting off the black armbands: we may have little more than one more week left in which to kick Silvio Berlusconi around. As predicted in this space back in August, the Italian prime minister’s former right-hand man, the post-Fascist leader Gianfranco Fini, who has been feuding with his old chief for most of the year, is now poised to plunge in the dagger.

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Leading article: Five solid years, but still much to prove

It was five years ago today that David Cameron, standing as an outsider, was elected to lead the Conservative Party. Now, it seems in some ways as though he has held that job forever, so comfortable does he seem in the role and so smoothly has he graduated from Opposition leader to Prime Minister. Yet he still seems the fresh new leader who bounded on to the stage and captivated his party conference with a pitch-perfect candidate's speech, delivered extempore. He remains youthful, engaging, and yes, to an almost infuriating degree, someone who was born to rule.

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Elton John: Read my lists – and I'll tell you who I am

Notebook

Letters: University fees will hit the best workers hardest

I heard with deep despair of the proposal to pay university fees for a year for the poorest students. What a lesson that if families stop struggling and cut hours or give up work their children will have less debt. What a shocking message! What about all those who struggle to do the right thing but never get well off? They are crushed again.