Despair has been simmering — and to the increasing advantage of populist and nationalist right-wing parties. The deep disaffection driving the national mood — real worry over the country’s economic prospects amid high youth unemployment and dysfunctional public services — is being channeled into anti-migrant fervor all too easily, adding to the toxicity and anxiety. And while the PD dismisses such worries of being “swamped” by migrants as xenophobia, the party’s response has done little to stop the hemorrhaging of their traditional voters in the red belt.
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