Bossi quits over party corruption

The firebrand founder of an anti-immigrant party, whose support kept Silvio Berlusconi in power in three governments, resigned yesterday amid a widening corruption scandal over party funds.

Umberto Bossi quit as Northern League secretary at a summit of party officials in Milan, and rebuffed pleas by his colleagues to change his mind. League official Matteo Salvini quoted 70-year-old Mr Bossi as saying that wrongdoers in a scandal involving alleged skimming of party funds should "pay" for their errors.