Earlier this week I heard an Italian senator speaking of his ambitions for Italy's newly elected government. The task of the incoming administration, he ventured on BBC radio, was clear: to modernise Italy and realign its economic fortunes and political status with Europe's leading powers.

For a moment or two the thesis seemed entirely plausible, indeed encouraging. Italy has too long been trapped in decline, not so much the sick but the decaying man of Europe. It risks being described not by its rich cultural heritage, wonderful food and vast talent for stylish innovation, but by the rotting rubbish piled high in the streets of Naples and the demise of the national flag carrier Alitalia.