FOR the second time in less than seven years Italians have had a bloodless coup d’etat imposed on them by a loyal servant of the European Union neoliberal establishment.

Neither the Lega nor the Five Star Movement, which agreed to set up a coalition government, is an attractive proposition to socialists, internationalists or trade unionists.

Threatening to deport half-a-million asylum-seekers is outright racism, while reducing the upper level of direct taxation for businesses and individuals from 43 per cent to between 15 and 20 per cent smacks of shock therapy economics to benefit the very rich and undermine any prospect of wealth redistribution.