Giorgia Meloni's electrifying speech at the WCF Verona 2019

Whole video:
https://www.facebook.com/WCF13Verona/videos/415968082283859

The World Congress of Families (Congresso Mondiale delle Famiglie) was held in Verona from the 29-31st March. Congress promotes conservative Christian family values. This event was enormously controversial in Italy and attracted 20,000 protesters to the city, the protesters said the congress was homophobic and wanted to restrict women's freedom, keep them at home doing the ironing, and take Italy back to the middle ages.

Notes / explanations:

00:10 The host is Eva Crosetta who presents a religious affairs programme on Italian state broadcaster RAI.

05:08 Infant's income = 400 euros a month, per child, up to the age of six, a Fratelli d'Italia policy.

05:10 Citizen's income = a form of social welfare introduced for people living below the poverty line (earning less than 780 euros a month). One of Five Star's flagship policies.

05:22 Nursery schools in Italy (asili nido) are for kids aged 1-3.

05:34 Law 194 = 1978 law that legalised abortion in Italy. Meloni is saying that parts of the law can be applied to provide assistance for mothers who choose not to have an abortion.

06:45 Comuni = small municipalities. Meloni is talking about the growth of towns in medieval Italy. This was important in terms of commerce, culture, development of legal rights and government. Italy was the most highly urbanised part of the world at the time.

06:53 Matera = Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio (who opposed the congress) was caught on camera asking the governor of Puglia what he was doing regarding the town of Matera (which is not in Puglia, it is Basilicata).Di Maio later responded to the media saying he knew Matera wasn't in Puglia but that Puglia was in fact receiving funds related to Matera (Matera is one of the European Capitals of Culture) including for a railway, and that is what he was asking about.

08:46 Single thinking = ideological dogmatism on a particular subject, ideological orthodoxy, refusal to accept alternative ideas on what the solution to a problem is.

09:34 This is a well known case in Italy. The parents in question were actually 57 and 69 when their daughter was born.

10:12 Eluana Englaro's father fought for years to be able to switch off her life support, before finally being permitted to do so.

10:27 Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans were infants whose life support was switched off against the wishes of their parents.

12:53 "We will defend God, country and family." Meloni was criticised for this quote, people saying it was from Mussolini. It was actually originally made by Giuseppe Mazzini, a major figure in Italy's Risorgimento (19th century unification).

13:14 GK Chesterton, British conservative writer. Salvini, who also spoke at this conference, about 20 minutes after Meloni, also used this quote at the end of his speech. The crowd started laughing and Salvini realised someone has said it already. He took in good spirit. "Who said it? As a gentleman I take a step back. I won't repeat quotes"