Italy’s centre-right government on Friday was rocked by accusations made in court by a Mafia hitman that Silvio Berlusconi had made commitments to Sicily’s Cosa Nostra as he was about to enter politics 15 years ago.

Testifying behind a screen in a high security court in Turin, Gaspare Spatuzza, a Mafia turncoat, claimed he had been told by a top Sicilian mobster in January 2004 that Mr Berlusconi and his long-time business associate, Marcello Dell’Utri, had given “everything” the Mafia had wanted.