Free Republic

Umberto Bossi, the firebrand leader of Italy's opposition Northern League party, resigned yesterday (5 April) after allegations that taxpayers' money was used to pay for renovations at his villa and holidays for his children. He resigned to "better defend and protect the image of the movement and of his family in this delicate situation," the party said in a statement. The move, announced by the League after a meeting of its federal council in Milan, is likely to destabilise the populist, anti-immigration party, weakening one of the main political forces opposing Prime Minister Mario Monti's austerity programme in parliament. Earlier...