In his speech to the Chamber of Deputies during the debate on Economy Minister Giorgetti’s statement regarding the budget deviation, the Five Star Movement’s parliamentary group leader, Riccardo Ricciardi, criticised the SAFE programme, the money spent on Italy’s defence, downplayed the threat from Moscow, attacked the US and praised China. We are publishing his speech in full

If he stands alone, it will be proof that the government will try to pass on the costs of defence – the SAFE programme, which it regards ‘like the NRRP, as a loan’ – to the minister. If he is supported, it will mean that the Meloni government remains united, despite the differences between the League and Forza Italia

To persist in using a term which, in the public eye, shifts the logic of expediency into the realm of ethics – or, worse still, of sentiment – is a linguistic error. And therefore a conceptual one. And consequently a political one

Conte brings Draghi and Ukraine into the fray as he seeks to form his third government as Prime Minister. Drama within the PD: “Will the government’s resolution on the NEC include a reference to SAFE?”

He accidentally reposts the draft proposal for a new party (PLFI). It is a move designed to push Zaia and Fedriga towards a change of direction

The government’s stance on Schengen, although essentially endorsed by many European governments, was a demagogic blow in the style of the Zagrebelsky imagined by the forger. There was no ethical need for it. On the contrary, it was a move completely detached from the mainstream pro-European course of a government that has fared well on the issue of immigration