Getty Reuters The Italian referendum could plunge Europe into political and economic crisis

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The people of Italy have voted No to constitutional reforms in the Italian referendum, which is signals the latest blow to the crumbling Western world order. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned last night, which has sparked political uncertainty and could trigger fresh elections in Italy.

If the anti-establishment Five Star Movement party seizes power in the election, it will hold a referendum on Italy’s membership of the eurozone. This would pave the way for Italy quitting the euro, plunging the eurozone into chaos and leading to the disintegration of the EU. Simon Tilford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform (CER), said that an Italian referendum on the eurozone would lead to considerable instability in Europe.

Getty Comedian Beppe Grillo is the founder of the Five Star Movement

Mr Tilford said: “The act of calling that referendum would precipitate a crisis in Europe. It would embolden populist and anti-Europe parties elsewhere.” The latest polls show that Italy is set to reject the establishment by voting no in the constitutional reform referendum next week.

The Five Star Movement is anti-establishment but it is not anti-immigration, unlike many of the right-wing populist parties in Europe. Its leader Beppe Grillo has said that the US election result showed those who opposed Mr Trump were "anchored to a world that no longer exists”. But Mr Trump has often been compared to Berlusconi, a showman who has also taken a hardline on immigration and made lewd remarks about women. Austrian politician Norbert Hofer failed in his bid to become the EU's first far-right head of state after he lost Austria's election on Sunday. But radical right-wing populist parties could seize power in elections in France, the Netherlands and Germany next year.

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