Italian PM’S spokesman warns treasury of ‘vendetta’

THE spokesman for Italy’s prime minister threatened staff at the treasury with a “mega-vendetta” if they did not find cash for the Five Star party’s flagship election pledge.

In a leaked audio clip, Rocco Casalino warned of a purge of treasury officials if they failed to find €10billion (£9billion) to fund key budget promises including a guaranteed universal income of €780 a month for the unemployed.

“If, in the end, they tell us ‘ah, we couldn’t find the money’ then we’ll spend all of 2019 getting rid of all these pieces of s--- in the ministry of finance,” he said, referring to senior civil servants.

“A mega-vendetta is ready,” he said, warning “knives would come out”.

First posted on La Repubblica’s website, the clip sparked calls for Mr Casalino’s resignation. But Giuseppe Conte, the Prime Minister, and Five Star leaders defended Mr Casalino, expressing regret for the tone but not the content of his remarks.

Giovanni Tria, the economy minister, who does not belong to either ruling party, has given reassurances that Italy’s budget will be closely aligned with EU targets. At 132 per cent of GDP, Italy’s public debt is second highest in the EU, just after Greece.

Behind the scenes, Five Star leaders complained that finance ministry officials were “rowing against us” by identifying resources for the headline-grabbing immigration policies of the government’s junior coalition partner, but not for the basic universal income, Five Star’s central campaign promise.

“We are not going to sacrifice the citizens on the altar of debt,” warned Luigi Di Maio, Five Star’s leader and deputy prime minister.