Milan needs a programme, and we have one. Moratti writes to us

Milan is not a city that is won by pitting oneself against someone else. It is governed for the sake of its people: for those who live, work, study, invest, raise their children and wish to build their future here. For this reason, in response to Maurizio Crippa’s calls, the centre-right must begin not with a frantic search for a candidate, but with a plan. After fifteen years of left-wing governments, Milan needs profound change.

The city retains extraordinary economic, cultural and international strength. It is the strength of the people of Milan, its businesses, universities, voluntary sector, professions, creativity and hard work. But it is precisely this vitality that makes the shortcomings of those who have governed it all the more evident. The left had promised a more inclusive Milan. Today, living in Milan has become increasingly difficult for young people, families and the middle class. It had promised a city that cared for its suburbs. Instead, too many neighbourhoods continue to feel cut off from the centre – in terms of services, opportunities and the quality of urban space. It had made sustainability its flagship policy. All too often, however, it has translated this into bans, restrictions and costs, without first ensuring efficient alternatives.

Above all, he had promised an open and safe city. Today, safety has become one of the main concerns of the people of Milan. This is not a perception to be dismissed out of hand; it is a political question that must be addressed. Because there can be no true inclusion without the rule of law. There is no freedom if a woman is afraid to go home in the evening, if an elderly person fears going out, if a shopkeeper feels isolated, or if entire areas of the city are gradually being stripped of their full accessibility to citizens and handed over to widespread petty crime, street racing and youth gangs. This is the paradox of left-wing Milan: constantly talking about inclusion whilst having built a city that is increasingly economically selective and socially fragile.

The centre-right is proposing a different model, a vision.

A major plan for housing, mobilising public assets and private investment, to bring young couples, students, teachers, nurses, law enforcement officers and workers back into the city. A security policy based on increased patrols, street lighting, CCTV, tackling squatting and constant collaboration with the police. We need a major strategy for the suburbs, comprising services, local shops, sport, culture, schools and fast transport links. And a transport policy that does not view the car as an ideological enemy, but builds a more extensive, reliable and safe public transport system before imposing further sacrifices. When I was Mayor, we worked to put Milan on the world map. Expo arose from the simple idea that Milan needed to rekindle its ambition to compete with the great international capitals.

Today, that same ambition must become social as well as economic. Milan must attract investment and talent, but also enable students and workers to live there. It must be international without losing its identity, sustainable without becoming unaffordable, open without abandoning the rules, and supportive without confusing inclusion with a lack of law and order. This could be the proposal of a popular, liberal, European and reformist centre-right. A Milan that once again combines growth and security, freedom and responsibility, innovation and social cohesion. The candidate will come. The city comes first. And Milan needs not simply a name for its new mayor, but a new ambition.