The confidence votes that Silvio Berlusconi’s government faces in Rome on Tuesday are unlikely to produce a neat and lasting solution for Italy’s latest outbreak of political instability. But they offer legislators a chance to rise to their responsibilities and show Mr Berlusconi the door. In this way the political classes – or at least those not totally beholden to the prime minister’s political and business interests – can demonstrate that they finally appreciate the damage that the billionaire media mogul has inflicted on Italian public life in his 17-year political career.