'Stage is SET' for Italy to leave the EU and Brussels is to BLAME claims William Hague

The former Foreign Secretary was discussing the problems the new right-wing coalition in Italy will have with the EU as bureaucrats “prevent Italians from receiving the benefits for which they voted.”

Writing in a newspaper column, Lord Hague said: “The two parties that have just jointly nominated a prime minister - the Five Star Movement and The League - are an entirely new combination, vehemently opposed to most of the policies pursued in their own country and the rest of Europe for the past few decades.

“They have long been hostile to staying in the euro, have promised to expel hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, and have adopted an economic programme considered crazy by conventional economists.”

But, the former Foreign Secretary is sceptical about whether the coalition will be able to keep their promises on policy when the EU get involved.

Mr Hague said: “One thing we can know for sure is that this is going to lead to a very big disappointment.

“Left to its own devices, the new Italian coalition would soon discover that no sensible person would lend it the money to do this and that the economy is too big for anyone to bail it out.”

The senior peer argued Itlay’s populist politicians will be prevented from making policy changes by the EU, bringing resentment towards the EU27 and meaning the coalition have to break promises.

In his Telegraph column he wrote: “Disappointment and anger can therefore be directed, not against a new ministry in Rome, but at Brussels and Berlin.

“It will be the EU that will be preventing Italians from receiving the benefits for which they voted.

“If the new political leaders want to trigger the bust-up that could lead to Italy leaving the euro, as so much earlier rhetoric from them has suggested they do, the stage will be perfectly set for it.”

A close pal of David Cameron, Lord Hague campaigned for Remain during 2016’s referendum.

But he thinks Brussels will inevitably wind up the Italians when they put blockers on their plans.

He continued: “Italy is going to be told by everyone else in the EU, from the German Finance Ministry to the European Commission, that this is not on.

“The eurozone has strict rules against big budget deficits and Italy would be breaking them.

“In the two decades since Italy joined the Euro, the country has struggled compared to others in the bloc.

“Joining the euro in 1999 imposed permanent stagnation on Italy, with a huge human cost of high unemployment and struggling businesses.

“For nearly 20 years, the economy has barely grown at all, while Germany has forged ahead.”

Lord Hague has been sceptical of the currency since the start, and referred to it as being “like a burning building with no exits” in the past.

Despite campaigning for Remain, Hague’s election manifesto as leader in 2001 advocated more flexibility from Brussels.