In praise of … Bedford's Italians

It would be hard to deny that Italy, with a public sector debt of more than £1 trillion , needs to trim its public spending. But it is also hard not to regret the Italian government's decision to close its special consular facilities in Bedford at the end of this month as a result. It is an act that will deprive one of Britain's oldest Italian communities of services upon which many of them still depend. It is more than 50 years since the London Brick Company went recruiting in southern Italy, producing a migration that gives Bedford the third largest Italian population in the UK, after London and Manchester. The brickworks are long gone, but the Bedford Italians remain, as many as 20,000 of them on some estimates. They have passport, visa and pension needs which, as they protested at the weekend , are better provided locally than in London or online. The Bedford Italians are an unusual community that should be cherished, by Britain and Italy alike.