I am sure Nigel Farage will be delighted at the comparison with Giorgia Meloni, who moved from far-right Mussolini-heritage politics to becoming prime minister of Italy (Can Nigel Farage emulate success enjoyed by Italy’s far-right Giorgia Meloni? 9 November).
The way she did this was to snuggle up to Mario Draghi, Italy’s and the European Union’s No 1 banker, who coached her in lines to take. So she ditched her hostility to the EU and support for dropping the euro to return to the lira. She found fault with Vladimir Putin. She sought collaborative solutions with other European leaders to the arrivals of boat people.
So let us wait to see if Mr Farage embraces Europe, which would certainly cause confusion in Labour ranks given the party’s snail-like advance towards criticising the breaking of trade links with the giant single market across the Channel. But right now, Nigel Farage is where Giorgia Meloni was 15 years ago.
Denis MacShane
Former minister for Europe
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