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Matteo Hallissey, president of the liberal +Europa party and the Italian Radicals, was attacked by an angry group of taxi drivers during a protest outside parliament in Rome on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The incident occurred during\u00a0a national strike, called by 18 unions representing cab drivers, who are demanding stricter regulations for multinational ride-hailing apps.<\/p>\n
The 24-hour strike saw taxi drivers across Italy protest the government, accusing it of failing to keep its promises and favouring the entry of multinationals such as Uber by liberalising the sector.<\/p>\n
Taxi drivers staged a protest in front of Palazzo Montecitorio, throwing smoke bombs into the piazza and chanting “Uber, Uber, Fuck off”.<\/p>\n
Hallissey, 22, arrived in their midst carrying a sign saying “No more lobbying” and holding a POS machine which he offered provocatively to taxi drivers, who are regularly accused of claiming their electronic payment system does not work, in order to receive their fare in cash.<\/p>\n
The sight of Hallissey provoked a\u00a0wave of insults and threats from the taxi drivers who\u00a0chanted “Piece of shit” in his direction before turning violent, prompting the politician to leave the scene.<\/p>\n
“They chased us across the piazza and attempted to outrun the police to reach us, spitting and kicking”, Hallissey told reporters, adding:\u00a0“Multinationals already operate in all European capitals and in Italy alone they must be subject to enormous constraints because of this 25,000-strong lobby.”<\/p>\n
Calci, sputi e minacce da parte dai tassisti. Ecco cos\u2019\u00e8 accaduto oggi alla manifestazione a Roma. @matteohallissey<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/zfPNEPlauh<\/a><\/p>\n