Professor Daniele Albertazzi

... it’s a total abdication of a stance. In a moment that demands clarity, Italy’s leadership has opted for a vacuum.

There are plenty of distractions to sift through right now, but Giorgia Meloni’s latest performance on the global stage is truly something else.

​Claiming to "neither support nor condemn" the US/Israeli strikes on Iran isn't just a tightrope walk...

Sad but true.

Aligning to cut red tape and facilitate trade.

Now THAT'S AN IDEA

Come and join our workshop on Meloni's impact on the management of migration in the EU, co-organised by @lse-ei.bsky.social and @psa-italian.bsky.social, with financial support by @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social!

PhD students & ECRs can apply for travel grants up to £110 to cover travel/accommodation.

Come and join our workshop on Meloni's impact on the management of migration in the EU, co-organised by @lse-ei.bsky.social and @psa-italian.bsky.social, with financial support by @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social!

PhD students & ECRs can apply for travel grants up to £110 to cover travel/accommodation.

Italy's Minister of Defence to Parliament today: "The US attack is outside the law. We are on the brink of the abyss".

He would not make statements like this without clearing them with Meloni first.

As simple as.

The European radical right could not be more divided on foreign policy matters and defence.

Italy's Minister of Defence to Parliament today: "The US attack is outside the law. We are on the brink of the abyss".

He would not make statements like this without clearing them with Meloni first.

As simple as.

If you think that Meloni always necessarily agrees with Trump, you are not paying attention. On the contrary, she's carving out a space "in-between" US and EU partners on most issues.

The PM today: "We are not at war, nor do we have any intention to take part in it".

The peculiar feature of this idea is that it'd be disliked by Reform voters, too. She manages to upset the whole spectrum...

I am applying for asylum myself. Happy to be deported to Italy as I retire.

Uk's Home secretary Shabana Mahmood.

So Shabana Mahmood says refused asylum seeker families could get up to £40,000 to leave Britain...

Meanwhile at 10 Downing Street, someone’s clearly teaching a masterclass titled: “How to Annoy Literally Everyone in One Easy Policy.”

Five stars. No notes. Absolute bipartisan chaos. 🍿

Uk's Home secretary Shabana Mahmood.

So Shabana Mahmood says refused asylum seeker families could get up to £40,000 to leave Britain...

Meanwhile at 10 Downing Street, someone’s clearly teaching a masterclass titled: “How to Annoy Literally Everyone in One Easy Policy.”

Five stars. No notes. Absolute bipartisan chaos. 🍿

Not to mention that these predictions quickly become self fulfilling, so there is an interesting overlap between polling and... deploying effective strategies of communication/being able to use new media... knowing what to say to whom... it's a minefield. And it all changes by the week!

Hard to disagree with this...

Dutchification for sure. But good luck to anyone trying to predict how many seats X party gets under FPTP given the current circumstances and the willingness shown by people to vote tactically...

It can be very significant if one knows what to do with activists, both on the ground and online. Absolutely.

Uk's Home Office Minister Mahmood visiting a facility hosting asylum seekers in Denmark.

Few people in the UK have the vaguest idea whatever a Danish-inspired approach to asylum might mean 🤔. So the point is to reach Copenhagen, be seen visiting what looks like a prison, stress how "tough" Danish govt is...then wait for those Reform UK voters to flock back to Labour in droves.

Fools.

Uk's Home Office Minister Mahmood visiting a facility hosting asylum seekers in Denmark.

Few people in the UK have the vaguest idea whatever a Danish-inspired approach to asylum might mean 🤔. So the point is to reach Copenhagen, be seen visiting what looks like a prison, stress how "tough" Danish govt is...then wait for those Reform UK voters to flock back to Labour in droves.

Fools.

Front page of the Daily Mail

In politics you can always move right. But you would always -always- "lurch" left...

One other issue here is while there is rightly discussion about what happens if the Iranian regime survives and Trump et al have no plan for what next, there also needs to be more discussion of scenarios where the regime falls and Trump et al have no plan for what next

Well said

Mahmood to press on with immigration reforms despite by-election defeat The home secretary is to double down on plans for Danish-style restrictions on asylum seekers.

Conservatives' big idea was "Australia-style immigration system". Labour has found its "Danish-style asylum system".

Both risk fading into irrelevance due to peculiar "UK-style electoral system", which is helping insurgents now, after keeping them down for so long..

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Yes, and some of his claims are also rather simplistic.

But he is in the right place, at the right time while his competitor is upsetting his own voters day in day out chasing radical right voters...

Labour is in crisis & cannot afford to be so dumb.

Attempts to delegitimise by branding them as extremist are puerile, won't work with voters & MPs alike & will lead him nowhere. There are moments in politics when a little humble pie may be necessary (if hard to swallow), when pretending that you just need to redouble your efforts just doesn't work.

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Yes of course he won't do it, but here is the link just in case:

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

I see Starmer is at it again, drawing the wrong lessons from his defeat...

He could invest a couple of hours reading about 'purifier' parties, as those 'which refer to an ideology that has been betrayed or diluted by established parties'. And then think of how to re-engage with his electorate...

"Where were the political scientists when we needed them, pointing out that this had been tried elsewhere and very rarely works"

So by the end of the morning the strategy seems to be: more and better co-opting of Farage's ideas, attacking extremist plumbers for daring to stand for election and promising to work harder than ever before.

Sounds promising.