Salvini, the ‘Maranzino’, wins the party conference: ‘No more aid to Kyiv’. The rift with Meloni and Giorgetti

The real Maranza, the ‘Maranzino’, is him. It is this Salvini, re-elected as secretary of the Lega until 2030, just like in Moscow, Beijing and Pyongyang: the ‘Maranzino’ for life. He announces that “I will put forward a clear position in the Council of Ministers. We cannot continue to give money and weapons to Ukraine”. He appears intent on undermining the centre-right government, much as the Maranza hooligans smash shop windows in Milan. He intends to see out the remainder of the parliamentary term by threatening Meloni, purging Max Romeo, and spitting on the newspapers – Il Foglio, La Repubblica and Il Corriere (from which he secretly requests interviews) – all ‘servile’ journalists to be kept at bay ‘so as not to contaminate the delegates’. He was grim before, and now he’s even grimmer. He used to drink heavily at the Papeete, but now he’s brimming with rage and promises: “I’ll be uncompromising.” He lashes out at Giorgetti, whom businesspeople might pat on the back “but then don’t actually vote for us”. He wins the extraordinary congress in Milan with 465 votes against 146 (25 per cent) for Massimo Garavaglia, the challenger who has elevated a contest deemed lost to a noble cause – the David who wields the word ‘dream’ instead of a sling. If Salvini ever returns to the Ministry of the Interior, he will either shut down the newspapers or lock himself away to write articles in his own praise.