In March I was in Verona, Italy’s ‘city of love’. I was queuing for what proved to be a delicious espresso and brioche in a magnificent hall overlooking a Roman amphitheatre. And I was chatting to a leading far-right bureaucrat.
If it were not for the politics of my new fascist friend, it would have been a perfect holidaymaking moment. But I was at work: reporting undercover on a big annual jamboree for far-right politicians, conservative Catholics and evangelical Christians called the World Congress of Families.
This week, the far right hopes to win its biggest victory in Europe since the 1930s. Many of the politicians I met in Verona are seeking to surf a wave of discontent into the European Parliament, where they can work together to roll back hard-won rights for women, LGBTIQ people, migrants and minorities.
