Caught in a jam: scandal of Milan’s 3,000 VIPs who have to be in the fast lane

Michael Day reports from Milan on the Italian elite's perks
Perks: Barbara Berlusconi is one of the many who can beat jams in Milan
Michael Day20 November 2013

In Italy there’s a special list for every occasion, an exclusive “VIP” area in even the least salubrious nightclub, a way of getting ahead or paying less for anything and everything if your face fits or you know the right people.

Even in Milan, supposedly the city nearest geographically and socially to the rest of Europe, instincts to grab all you can at the expense of your fellow citizen are finely tuned.

How else can you explain new city statistics that show an unholy mix of 3,398 politicians, businessmen, celebrities and even church leaders have special passes that allow them to drive in restricted areas, including bus lanes.

The car-driving VIPs, who desperately need to arrive ahead of the hoi polloi include Silvio Berlusconi’s socialite daughter Barbara, the veteran actress Bedy Moratti and even Susanna Camusso, the truculent head of the Cgil public sector union. The thought of Ms Camusso whizzing down an express lane designed for public transport on the way to a meeting in which she intends to call yet another bus and train strike, was probably more than the city’s weary commuters could bear.

But as ever, Italy’s great and good appear to have no compunction about benefiting from special privileges — Milan’s current archbishop, Angelo Scola, and his predecessor, Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, have the passes that allow them to speed along in fast lanes with buses and ambulances.

The scandal of gratuitous perks hit the headlines in 2010 when it emerged that the number of dark-blue limousines known as auto blu that whisk around every tin-pot public official had swollen to 72,000.

Italian newspapers noted that in comparison, Britain had only 198 chauffeured cars permanently at the disposal of state officials. Italy’s highly-paid parliamentarians ought to stamp out such privileges and vested interests. But why do that and put their own perks, such as obscene expenses claims and subsidised meals, at risk?

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