Dante’s Beach, Ravenna

News that Italians now enjoy a higher standard of living than the British made me think: my God, life must be truly awful in Britain.

Yes, the Italians do have much to feel good about in terms of the quality of their lives thanks to the beauty of their country, the splendour of their history, culture and cuisine, and their impressive defence of the traditional family and way of life from the threats to them of the modern world.

When I’m drinking, I buy a superb local Sangiovese for €2.60 a litre dispensed into plastic mineral water bottles from a huge cask in a wine shop in Ravenna run by a man whose nickname is God

But on the face of it the Italians would seem to have precious little to crow about on the economic front. Italy is the only G7 country, for instance

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