Milan, 28 Aug. (LaPresse) – “I realise it’s easier to stir up a rather surprising row with me. Yesterday, Bignami and, to some extent, the Lega launched an attack, rather than addressing why we pay some of the highest utility bills and petrol prices in the world, or why there are too many people in precarious employment – especially young people – or why the public health service is collapsing, or why the country is not growing and will rank last this year and next among the 27 EU member states in terms of growth. “I said one thing; they took a single sentence out of a broader argument.” This was stated by the PD’s leader, Stefano Bonaccini, on ‘Coffee Break’ on La7, in response to a social media post by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “I was saying,” he added, “that over the last ten years in the West, whenever there has been an election – and the right has often won, from the first and second Trump elections to Brexit, the vote for Le Pen, and the vote for the right in Italy – the right has secured a majority of the vote, not from everyone, of course, but a majority if we exclude those with slightly lower educational qualifications, compared to the left. A majority vote amongst those who are worse off economically and a majority vote amongst those living in inland areas, the countryside or on the outskirts of towns and cities. This is what has happened when we break down the vote. There are analyses and studies everywhere, which does not mean that there aren’t people with multiple degrees who vote for the League, Brothers of Italy or Vannacci. But I raised this as a problem for the Left, because the Left – which has often lost elections in many European countries or in the United States, or during the Brexit vote – ought to be better able to represent those who may be struggling more financially or who may have had fewer opportunities in life to attain higher qualifications. And this is to say that we need a more populist Left.”
Bonaccini responds to Meloni: ‘A surprising row – I was talking about a problem on the left’
Milan, 28 Aug. (LaPresse) – “I realise it’s easier to stir up a rather surprising row with me. Yesterday, Bignami and, to some extent, the Lega launched an attack, rather than addressing why we pay some of the highest utility bills and petrol prices in the world, or why there are too many people in precarious employment – especially young people – or why the public health service is collapsing, or why the country is not growing and will rank last this year and next among the 27 EU member states in terms of growth. “I said one thing; they took a single sentence out of a broader argument.” This was stated by the PD’s leader, Stefano Bonaccini, on ‘Coffee Break’ on La7, in response to a social media post by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “I was saying,” he added, “that over the last ten years in the West, whenever there has been an election – and the right has often won, from the first and second Trump elections to Brexit, the vote for Le Pen, and the vote for the right in Italy – the right has secured a majority of the vote, not from everyone, of course, but a majority if we exclude those with slightly lower educational qualifications, compared to the left. A majority vote amongst those who are worse off economically and a majority vote amongst those living in inland areas, the countryside or on the outskirts of towns and cities. This is what has happened when we break down the vote. There are analyses and studies everywhere, which does not mean that there aren’t people with multiple degrees who vote for the League, Brothers of Italy or Vannacci. But I raised this as a problem for the Left, because the Left – which has often lost elections in many European countries or in the United States, or during the Brexit vote – ought to be better able to represent those who may be struggling more financially or who may have had fewer opportunities in life to attain higher qualifications. And this is to say that we need a more populist Left.”