Football in Italy is experiencing one of its darkest periods after the national team failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, missing the tournament for the third consecutive time. This has been described by international media reports as an unprecedented ‘historic collapse’ for one of the pillars of the game.

According to Reuters, the latest elimination has sparked grief and anger in Italy, with reports of ‘tears and national shock.’ The Associated Press, meanwhile, considers this a ‘new normal’ for a team that was once the world’s dominant force.

Italy face a deepening crisis

Italy’s failure is no longer a passing event, but rather a continuous decline since their 2006 World Cup victory. They were eliminated in the group stage in 2010 and 2014, before failing to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, culminating in their third consecutive absence in 2026.

This downward trajectory has prompted major Italian media outlets to use harsh descriptions, with local newspapers speaking of a ‘footballing disgrace’ and a ‘systemic collapse,’ arguing that the problem has transcended mere results and reached the very core of the country’s football structure.

The greatest paradox lies in the fact that this decline comes after Italy’s Euro 2020 triumph, which analytical reports have deemed a:

clear disconnect between momentary success and the absence of a long-term project.

Just when the Italian national team seemed poised to reclaim its continental glory, it encountered a different reality on the world stage, repeatedly failing to advance through the qualifiers and playoffs.

Structural flaws and a decline in talent

International reports suggest that the Italian crisis has deeper dimensions than just technical ones, pointing to a range of factors.

Most notably, there has been a decline in the country’s player development system and an increasing reliance on foreign players for Italian clubs, which has negatively impacted opportunities for developing local talent.

The reports also highlighted the lack of administrative and technical stability, along with the national team’s lack of leadership figures capable of handling the pressure in crucial matches – a deficiency clearly demonstrated by the successive failures during the qualifying rounds.

The recent elimination sparked widespread criticism within Italian sporting circles, with calls growing for a comprehensive review of the football system, from the national federation to the league structure and youth development programs.

In this context, reports quoted officials and former players confirming that “Italy is no longer just losing matches, but losing its footballing identity,” indicating the depth of the crisis the Azzurri are experiencing.

An uncertain future and open questions

Amid this situation, the Italian national team faces a real challenge to regain its historical standing, especially as it is one of the most decorated teams in World Cup history.

However, the repeated failures raise serious questions about Italy’s ability to break what has become known in the media as the “World Cup curse” and return to the global stage after years of absence and decline.

Featured image via the Associated Press

What is lördagsgodis?

What’s that got to do with my Easter eggs?

Any other rules?

Starting today, 1 April, MPs’ basic salary will rise to £98,599. For comparison, the average full-time worker in the UK made £39,039 a year, as of April 2025.

The pay bump marks a 5% increase in MPs’ basic wage. For comparison, average inflation stood at 3% as of January 2026.

Likewise, MPs’ salaries are expected to continue to rise to around the £110,000 by 2029, which marks the end of the current parliament. For comparison, even chancellor Rachel Reeves’ promise that people will be £1,000 better off by then is looking shaky at best. 

However, the basic salary is only the beginning of the story. MPs also get an expenses allowance to cover absolute necessities like their second homes in London, their offices, and travel. Likewise, if an MP also sits on a committee or holds an additional role, they of course receive extra money.

Meanwhile, teachers in the UK are still buying classroom supplies out of their own pocket.

MPs pay rise has to be a joke

If all of this is setting your blood to boiling, please calm down. Don’t be like the the Taxpayers’ Alliance said, who rushed to state that people will be:

seething to see politicians receive an inflation-busting pay rise, all while they suffer a personal recession.

Likewise, take care not to follow the example of the group’s chair John O’Connell, who said that:

After years of broken promises, falling living standards and deteriorating public services, MPs are being rewarded for failure with a princely pay boost.

You see, it’s not like MPs are setting their own salaries or anything – that would be monstrously corrupt.

Instead, politicians’ wages are determined by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). IPSA makes its decision based on a number of factors, including 3.5% cost-of-living increase, along with a 1.5% benchmarking adjustment.

The watchdog compares MPs’ salaries to other politicians in similar democracies, as well as senior figures in the public sector and the NHS. Public sector salaries are, in turn, set by review bodies and, ultimately, by MPs.

Fortunately, MPs’ salaries are not compared to lower-ranking public sector workers, as this would look less favorable. For example, most NHS staffers will receive a 3.3% pay rise this year. Similarly, Civil Service workers received pay awards of up to 3.25% on average for 2025/26.

‘The wider economic context’

The independent head of IPSA is Richard Lloyd. An interesting an unrelated fact about Richard Lloyd is that he worked as a special adviser to prime minister Gordon Brown. 

Explaining his decision, Lloyd said:

The role of an MP has evolved. They are dealing with higher levels of complex casework, and abuse and intimidation towards MPs and their staff has been growing.

In reaching our decision for 2026-27 we have benchmarked MPs’ pay against other responsible, senior roles in civic society and similar worldwide democracies, as well as considering our own core principles and the wider economic context.

In future years we will continue to consider prevailing economic and fiscal conditions when confirming annual pay decisions taking into account the experience of people outside of parliament.

When more work has been added to my jobs for the same pay as before, managers have called it a ‘necessary adjustment’ and ‘good business sense’. It’s nice that this kind of good business doesn’t apply to MPs.

It’s also nice that, despite their increasing casework and full-time jobs as MPs, parliamentarians are still finding time to work other jobs like appearing on the news in exchange for hundreds of thousands of pounds. Some even work extra jobs like appearing in cameo videos saying hi to neo-Nazis.

Growing levels of abuse, often factually accurate

Likewise, it’s also completely true that MPs are facing ever increasing levels of abuse. I know this, because I’m one of the cunts writing the abuse, and I’m writing more and more of it by the day.

However, I’m calling snivelling toerags like Starmer ‘snivelling toerags’ because he sucks up to fascist dictators like Donald Trump. I call Kemi Badenoch a racist horror because she talks about slashing human rights so that she can attack migrants. And, of course, I call Farage a far-right neo-Nazi shill because of the video evidence that he is a far-right neo-Nazi shill.

If MPs would like to receive less abuse, many would benefit from considering whether this abuse is linked to their being contemptible scum.

Until that point, they can kindly go fuck themselves – I imagine it’s covered by expenses.

Featured image via the Canary

1) The calendar theory

2) The fish theory

3) The King John theory

Outside the US Embassy in London on 1 April, two activists were tied by fuel hoses to a life-sized petrol pump in response to Donald Trump’s war on Iran.

The protest criticised the increase in oil company profits in the wake of the war’s destruction and trade disruption. The pump carried the label: “Oil Profit$$$ for Oil Bosses”.

Campaigners from Fossil Free London held signs saying “Stop Trump Tying us Into Fossil Fuels”, “Break Free from Climate Crisis” and “Break Free from Big Oil”.

Thousands have died to date across the region following US and Israeli attacks on Iran. Trump has recently stated his intention to “take the oil in Iran” following major attacks on fossil fuel infrastructure.

Meanwhile, oil dependency is increasing the cost of living once again for families in the UK as petrol prices rise. Whilst fossil fuel companies stand to make a windfall of billions on the back of the price shock.

One of Reform’s major donors, Jeremy Hoskings, has seen his fossil fuel and energy hedge fund investments rise by more than $25m since the war began in Iran.

This comes as Trump and Reform are using the oil price spike to call for our government to approve new UK oil and gas projects, like the controversial Rosebank oil field. Despite the fact that drilling in the North Sea would not make the UK more energy secure. If production began, Rosebank’s oil would still go for export – like 80% of all UK oil.

Robin Wells, director of Fossil Free London said:

Right now we are seeing the horrors of Trump’s war on Iran in the faces of dead schoolgirls and facing skyrocketing energy costs at home. And Big Oil cashes out big, with bumper profits.

We’re protesting today to say that for as long as the UK stays tied up in fossil fuels, we’ll see more oil wars, more extreme weather deaths and more instability.

Advertisement

The UK needs to cut ties with Trump and Big Oil. We need to break free from this knot of violence.

That starts with scrapping new UK oil and gas and rejecting Rosebank. Until then, being tied into Big Oil’s big disaster leaves us paying the price.

Featured image via Fossil Free London

1) Building and maintaining muscle

2) Prioritising sleep and recovery

3) Reducing inflammation through lifestyle choices

4) Maintaining “metabolic flexibility”

5) Enjoying life, in moderation

On 30 March 2026, two activists from the group People Against Genocide (PAG) targeted the London headquarters of Chubb Insurance, as well as the offices of Sompo, owner of Aspen Insurance. They sprayed the front of the building with symbolic blood-red paint, before locking-on outside the front entrance.

This is the fourth recent action by PAG. They have previously targeted both the Manchester and London offices of Chubb.

UAV Engines

Chubb insures UAV Engines, a subsidiary of Israel’s biggest weapons company, Elbit Systems. Elbit produce 85% of the Israeli military’s killer drone fleet.

UAV produce engines for Israel’s drone fleet at their factory in Shenstone in Staffordshire. These include the R902(W) Wankel engine used in Elbit’s Hermes 450 drone, the same model used by Israel to kill seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen, including 3 British nationals.

Calls to action

One of the activists locked-on outside the Chubb offices called on fellow activists to join them with flags, banners, and whistles. They said:

We are here to shut down Chubb, the insurers of Elbit Systems, until they cut all ties.

In the last month, we have seen whole families obliterated, thousands killed, and over thirty thousand injured across Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, and the whole of West Asia. Israel announced its intention to ethnically cleanse almost one million people out of southern Lebanon, all operationally supported by Elbit Systems, who profit from every life lost.

Those profits are guaranteed by Chubb, who insure their Shenstone factory here in Britain. The responsibility to drive Elbit out of our communities has never been more urgent.” They then called on supporters to get trained in direct action tactics, and join the struggle to shut down Elbit.

Without the mandatory Employer Liability Insurance provided by Chubb and Aspen, neither UAV Engines, nor Elbit themselves, could operate in Britain.

Global campaign

Other actionists have targeted insurance companies in recent months, following the announcement of a global campaign to disrupt an international ‘economy of genocide’. Previously, insurers Allianz and Aviva have ended their cover of Elbit after sustained protest activity.

PAG has previously targeted HSBC branches across the UK over their investments in Elbit Systems, as well as protesting Elbit sites directly.