Italian workers in Britain are not at risk of discrimination nor is there any animosity towards them, London's ambassador to Rome assured the Italian government on Monday.
Ambassador Edward Chaplin met Cabinet Secretary Gianni Letta at the premier's office and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's view that the workers' protest in Britain was not anti-Italian.
Relations between Rome and London are ''splendid.'' he said.
The ambassador officially met with Letta to review preparations for Brown's February 19 visit to Italy.
Last week British workers began a protest at Total's Lindsey Oil refinery near Grimsby, Lincolnshire over a decision to award a £200 ($285, 224 euro) million construction contract to an Italian firm, IREM, employing Italian and Portuguese workers.
Workers at other plants have since come out in support and joined the demand for ''British jobs for British workers''.
Prime Minister Brown's condemnation of the strikes won the full backing of the European Commission which applauded his position that ''the single market is an advantage for all nations in the EU''.
According to the EU executive, ''opening markets creates new jobs and new opportunities. Jobs are not saved nor created by closing markets''.
Brown's stand was also backed by Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini who defined Brown as ''a wise and competent person'' and said that the wildcat strikes in Britain were ''indefensible''.
Frattini, also noted that Italian and British workers were free to work anywhere in the EU.
''There is free circulation of labour in the EU - of Italians in Britain and Britons in Italy,'' he said.
NORTHERN LEAGUE VOICES COMPREHENSION FOR STRIKERS.
Although the protest has been criticised by the government, opposition and unions in Italy, it has found some support from a key ally in Premier Silvio Berlusconi's conservative government: the devolutionist Northern League, which in the past has voiced opposition to immigration.
In an interview published Monday in the Turin daily La Stampa, Northern League House Whip Roberto Cota said ''the British workers are right'' and what is taking place in Britain ''is the most classic consequence of globalization''.
According to Cota, ''the job market, especially during a recession, must be managed on a local level. However, this is not the case and it is creating problems today in Britain and, sooner or later, in Veneto,'' the northeast Italian region.
''Northeast Italy is already beginning to have these problems. Foreign workers are taking jobs away from Italians. What we need is a moratorium on the influx of foreigners, the way Spain did,'' he added.
In regard to the free flow of persons in the EU, Cota explained that this was fine for the highly skilled ''but not for the common blue-collar worker. The market only works if it has rules. Total open competition is unfair''.
''We need to guarantee jobs for our own. Businessmen who want foreign workers because they cost less are engaging in unfair competition practices,'' he added.
''The time has come to re-write international labor laws. Gordon Brown says the strike is illegal, maybe he says this for diplomatic reasons. In any case, it's Britain which continues to remain outside the euro zone.
