Meloni’s school policy. Cap on foreign students approved (but with exemptions). And she urges her allies to back the Stabilicum

“Nobody wants to turn children away – quite the opposite. This is a common-sense measure that promotes integration.” Giorgia Meloni did not attend a press conference, but at the ‘Tempo’ festival she defended the school measures announced at the weekend and approved by the Council of Ministers. The 30 per cent cap on foreign pupils who do not speak the language, as set out in a circular, becomes a “binding rule”, explains Minister Valditara. However, the government is organising free Italian language courses for non-Italian families. There is also a “ban on face coverings”.

The approach, as well as the government’s tone, following days of tension with the Quirinale, appears far more conciliatory. The Education Secretary, Giuseppe Valditara, seated next to Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, explains that it will be the ‘local education authorities that will redistribute pupils from classes exceeding 30 per cent to neighbouring schools. Should this not be possible due to distance, additional language support will be provided’. This is because – and here the Quirinale’s concerns may have played a part – the ‘right to education’ must be safeguarded. Parents of foreign pupils who refuse to attend Italian language courses may be fined between 200 and 1,000 euros. Earlier this afternoon, before the Council of Ministers meeting, a draft had also circulated containing a provision on the removal of children from families that fail to comply with the obligation to attend Italian language courses. “We could never do anything of the sort; I don’t know who is leaking these drafts to you – perhaps the left,” Valditara denied at a press conference. But the opposition is already on the attack: “The government wants to separate children from their families. Talk about ‘the family in the woods’,” says Riccardo Magi. Schlein goes so far as to describe the decree as “a disgrace”. Fines are also being introduced for families who make their children wear a burqa, niqab or “any other item designed to conceal the face”: up to 1,000 euros. The decree-law (preferred to the option of a draft bill) allocates funds to tackle the high cost of schoolbooks (21 million euros). The Council of Ministers also approved a suspension of the ban on Euro 5 vehicles in northern Italy (“a European regulation that is anything but green – if anything, it’s black,” Salvini exulted). Furthermore, a further provision was introduced to enable the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office to exercise its powers in relation to minors as well. Also at the Council of Ministers, the government challenged the Emilia-Romagna region’s law on medically assisted suicide before the Constitutional Court, on the grounds that it “would have infringed certain areas falling within the exclusive competence of the state”.

For a few hours today, there had been speculation that Meloni might speak at a press conference, but the Prime Minister has chosen the ‘Festa del Tempo’ festival, currently taking place in Rome, to focus primarily on the strategy to be implemented in the coming weeks, starting with the Budget Bill: “I can confirm that we want to continue cutting taxes for everyone and that we are paying particular attention to the middle class”. She returns to attacking the left once again, “who proposed a cap on foreign students. They talked the talk; we walked the walk. They’re proposing a wealth tax, and their criticism comes as no surprise to me”. She confirms her willingness to engage with whoever is elected leader of the broad coalition: “But who knows if there’ll actually be a real leader on the left”. Meanwhile, she thanked Calenda for “going beyond party lines on the nuclear bill”. And Vannacci? “Italians have already realised what the ‘useful vote’ is”. In the background of the day remain the controversies sparked by Meloni’s failure to attend the UN General Assembly. "But other countries were here without their prime ministers too," Tajani defends her. Meanwhile, in the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister warns her allies: "We will call for a vote of confidence on the electoral law and everyone must be present. I understand the Under-Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs who are on missions abroad," Meloni is reported to have said, "but for the others, the rule is to stay in Rome."