When it is politically expedient so to do, Italian politicians generally treat us like long-lost brothers, Say when a vote is needed to bolster some position they have taken or when they need their soft underbelly protected a bit.

On the other hand, when it becomes politically expedient to change tack, they do so with neck-wrenching speed, even more so when their own inadequacies are being protected.

Currently, the latter situation seems to be prevailing. Berlusconi, who is rapidly becoming even more of a joke than his own football team because of his inability to conduct himself as a decent human being, much less a statesman, and his minions Bossini and Frattini, seem to have taken into their heads that the human problem of north-bound immigration is something that can be solved by acting as if the rights of a sovereign nation (that’s us, folks) mean nothing and, even worse, as if a respect for truth and integrity is not a necessary component of international relations.

Of course, when you take into consideration the way Berlusconi acts in his private and public life (and one wonders if he sees a difference between the two) you’re hardly going to be surprised that he is allowing his juniors to mess around with truth and integrity in this way.

I have no problem with the way most Italian citizens of my acquaintance act: after all, they’ve been blithely ignoring the fools that make up their governments for so many years that it would be unfair to tar them with the brush that their so-called leaders use to coat themselves in effluent. It’s not surprising that the Italians ignore their governments, after all, they change so often that it’s impossible to keep track of who is on top and who is underneath.

A bit like trying to keep track of Berlusconi’s private life, that, I suppose, when you think about it.

So when the present Italian government starts taking ludicrous positions about the size of Malta’s SAR and trying to imply that we’re not competent to administer it and to do our humanitarian duty, it would be nice if they did this without falling over themselves to give the impression that they don’t really mind if out-and-out fabrications are resorted to.

It would be nice, too, if they took stock of their own respect for humanitarian considerations and tried to refrain from embarrassing themselves even more than they have already in the Mediterranean. Can anyone forget the tragedy of that woman who died at sea, so close to Lampedusa but so far from being treated as a human being by the Italians, who had no difficulty in hiding behind their position that the case was taking place within Malta’s SAR?

What a pity that a country that has so much going for it, such spectacular beauty, such excellent food and wine, such culture and such a multitude of fine people, is so often flawed by the way it is mis-governed. You will notice that I have left out any reference to football here, this is a serious(ish) discussion we’re having and it would be inappropriate to introduce the single element, apart from their inane government, that mars the landscape.

I think it was Mr S Fornacari who had sung a song with a refrain that is particularly apposite to the current circumstances. It involves an invocation for someone to go and make a hole somewhere or something like that, my knowledge of Italian is not quite up to the task of rendering an accurate translation.

However, Mr Berlusconi, media and celebrity junky that he is, no doubt is familiar with the song and he and his buddies would do well to act the way Zucchero advises.