Machiavellian reason

This week's Manchester conference on Machiavelli (page 8) heard at length from local MP Gerald Kaufman of the enduring power of Machiavelli's name as a byword for ingeniously unobtrusive realpolitik. But the subject of the conference is not a name to be conjured with at Chetham School of Music where the event was held. As a staff member explained: "I don't care who this Machiavelli is, he can't have a parking space."