In a speech which is being delivered to the National Council of his party, Mr Silvio Berlusconi was compelled to confirm what had already been anticipated by news agencies: Deputy Prime Minister Angelino Alfano is leaving the party together with all of Berlusconi’s Ministers, some Secretaries of State and dozens of MPs.

After weeks of nervous negotiations, Mr Alfano took his final decision fearing that Mr Berlusconi was going to torpedo the Government immediately after his expulsion from the Senate.

It is not the first time that Mr Berlusconi is deserted by the moderate wing of his party, it famously happened with the expulsion of Mr Gianfranco Fini, the then President of the Chamber of Deputies. Mr Berlusconi, however, was at the zenith of his power: Mr Fini was isolated with just a handful of MPs, and in the long run he was not even reelected.