“But many of those listening did not appear wholly convinced”

• Peter Wise, Lisbon under pressure on bail-out terms:

‘António Seguro, leader of the centre-left Socialist party, which negotiated the rescue package before losing a general election in June last year, told international lenders this week that Portugal needed “at least another year” to meet agreed fiscal targets.

It was the first time one of the three main political parties who signed up to the bail-out programme in May had publicly broken ranks over an agreement that requires deep public spending cuts, sweeping economic reforms and unprecedented tax increases.

A harsh recession and record unemployment – the consequences, Mr Seguro said, of failing to make economic growth and jobs the government priority – are placing heavy strains on Portugal’s traditional social cohesion.

Tensions boiled over at the weekend when hundreds of angry demonstrators booed and jostled Pedro Passos Coelho, the prime minister, during a visit to a rural fair.’