Flying insults and resignations amongst Vannacci’s supporters

Whilst Roberto Vannacci responds to the Financial Times – which accuses him of being Putin’s ‘Trojan horse’ in Italy – at Futuro Nazionale, mudslinging and resignations are rife. The general, on the other hand, prescribes ‘Imodium for everyone’ to soothe the newspapers’ stomach aches. However, it seems that a few tablets might also be useful for his own party, where discontent is mounting over positions reminiscent of fascism and an obscurantist programme. Luca Belotti, former Under-Secretary for Labour and Social Policies in the fourth Berlusconi government, is stepping down. He was also a Member of Parliament for AN and the PDL, having previously been with Fli under Fini. He was also a Meloni supporter in more recent times, before joining the Futurists. He wanted to help build a ‘rigorous right’ on immigration and security (and beyond) ‘but one that is also capable of placing humanity and respect for people of any faith or colour at the centre’. Instead, nothing came of it; the ‘dirty dozen’ have very different ideas. These are the very same concerns that Luca Sforzini, president of Rinaciscimento Nazionale – Vannacci’s think tank – highlighted yesterday in these pages. Following his interview with this newspaper, he was expelled from Vannacci’s chat groups. He had argued with Roberto Jonghi Lavarini, ‘the black baron’, the man for whom being called a ‘Nazi’ is a compliment, a badge of honour. Lavarini took it out on Sforzini, guilty of having expressed views contrary to the fascist impulses that have found a home within the FN. He took it out on this newspaper and then on Sforzini himself, calling for his expulsion from the party. Tomorrow, we imagine, he will do the same to former General Carmelo Burgio, the FN’s trade union candidate in Milan, who wants to take part in the 25 April march and is essentially saying that fascism ‘destroyed the country’ and is ‘a failed chapter in history’. Imodium for everyone?