London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Aug 24, 2026

Berlusconi calls Meloni names as Italy’s right-wing coalition spars

Berlusconi calls Meloni names as Italy’s right-wing coalition spars

The Forza Italia leader calls Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Melon ‘patronizing’ and ‘bossy’ in a note.

Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi appeared to describe Italy’s likely next prime minister and his supposed ally Giorgia Meloni as “patronizing, bossy, arrogant and offensive” in a note photographed by the press.

The epithets, scrawled on a piece of paper in the Italian parliament, were published by La Repubblica on Friday and escalated a row between two of the three parties attempting to form Italy’s next government.

“No willingness to change, she is one with which you cannot get along,” the note concluded.

“An adjective is missing: I am not blackmailable,” Meloni shot back on Friday evening.

The far-right Brothers of Italy leader is seeking to form a government after her coalition with Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini’s League swept elections last month.

But arguments over ministerial and parliamentary postings have soured the mood.

Berlusconi has refused to endorse the Brothers of Italy’s Ignazio La Russa — a collector of fascist memorabilia — as the next speaker of the country’s Senate.

Salvini told La Stampa that he had warned Berlusconi not to fight Meloni, whose party won more than one and a half times as many votes as Forza Italia and the League combined.

“I warned him, ‘Look, Giorgia has the numbers, you can’t get in the way,'” Salvini reportedly said.

Enrico Letta, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, leaped into the discord on Saturday.

“It does not seem to me to be a majority capable of giving a solid government to the country. They are only able to give the country an internal war, a permanent conflict,” La Stampa reported Letta as saying.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Give Ukraine Classified Storm Shadow Blueprints for Domestic Missile Production
UK Graduate Job Vacancies Plunge 45% to Lowest Levels on Record
Government Audit Reveals Pressure on UK Hospitality From Business Rates and Rising Costs
Kindertransport Survivor Prepares to Revisit European Sites Linked to Her Family’s Wartime Separation
Northern England Transport Operators Strengthen Contingency Plans as Travel Demand Rises
New Implant Trials Offer Treatment Prospects for Patients With Refractory Angina
South Wales Reviews Wildfire Response After Exceptionally Dry Summer
UK Treasury Prepares Autumn Fiscal Statement Amid Spending and Defense Pressures
Norfolk Records First Wild Beaver Births in More Than Five Hundred Years
Historic Portrait of Benjamin Disraeli Reported Missing From Parliament’s Art Collection
Five People, Including Police Officers, Killed in A66 Crash as Families Pay Tribute
Most English Secondary Schools Found to Fall Short of National Healthy Food Standards
UK Think Tank Says Productivity Growth May Be Stronger Than Official Data Shows
Reform Party Proposes Lower Social Housing Priority for Foreign-Born UK Citizens
UK Government Plans Business Rate Overhaul to Ease Pressure on Pubs and Hotels
New Daily Diabetes and Weight-Loss Pill Launches Across NHS Pharmacies in England
UK Graduate Job Vacancies Fall to Lowest Level in a Decade
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Visits Kyiv to Reaffirm Long-Term Military Support for Ukraine
Iranian Hackers Shut Down British Power Plant for Four Days in Landmark Cyber Attack
Novak Djokovic Reveals Relentless Self-Doubt and Rejects Retirement in New Documentary
Trump Imposes 50% Tariffs on Canadian Goods After Bilateral Trade Talks Collapse
First Bus Bars Unaccompanied Under-Sixteens From Evening Services in Stoke-on-Trent
Lithium-Ion Battery Fires Cost UK Waste Sector About One Billion Pounds a Year
Reform UK Proposes Lower Social Housing Priority for Foreign-Born Naturalised Citizens
UK Government Deploys AI Drones in Crackdown on Illegal Waste Dumping
EU Biometric Border Checks Cause Disruption for British Travellers and Freight Operators
UK Expands Voluntary Drug Treatment Programme for Sex Offenders to Twenty Prisons
CrossCountry Cancels Most Services After Major Power Failure at Control Centre
Met Office Warns El Niño Could Bring Severe Autumn Storms and Higher Food Prices
Resolution Foundation Says UK Productivity Growth May Be Stronger Than Official Data Suggest
Andy Burnham Proposes Giving Regional Mayors Greater Planning Powers
UK Government Overhauls Planning Rules to Accelerate Housing Near Transport Links
Russia Withdraws Ambassador to Britain and Warns of Retaliation Over UK Drone Supplies to Ukraine
Iran-Linked Hackers Blamed for Cyberattack That Shut Down UK Power Plant
Andy Burnham Pledges UK Support for Long-Range Missile Production in Ukraine
Australia Combines Indigenous Fire Knowledge With Satellite Tech to Combat Catastrophic Wildfires
Father and Son Jailed in Scotland Over £900,000 Airport Cannabis Smuggling Operation
UK Fraud Reports Surge Sevenfold as Criminals Exploit QR Codes in Parking Meters and Phishing Emails
Brighton Thrash Aston Villa in Four-Goal Opening Half as Manchester City Trail Bournemouth
Erin Patterson Appeals Triple Murder Convictions After Hotel Mixed Sequestered Jury With Prosecution
Bank of England Maintains Close Watch on Banks Amid Global Economic Uncertainty
Warm Weather and Tourism Support UK High Street Spending During Summer
Westminster Faces Continuing Political and Administrative Fallout From Epstein Files Release
UK Invests in Domestic Defence Drone Manufacturing to Strengthen Military Supply Chains
Around Five Million UK Households Face Higher Mortgage Payments by 2028
Bluetongue Virus Cases Rise Across England, Wales and Scotland
UK Government Holds First National Day for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism
Historic Summer Droughts Threaten UK Harvests and Put Further Pressure on Food Prices
UK Economy Holds Up in Second Quarter Despite Global Energy and Geopolitical Pressures
UK Opens National Artificial Intelligence Safety Testing Facility
×