The populist parties that are on the brink of forming a new government in Italy discussed demanding a debt write-off of €250 billion (£220 billion), all but guaranteeing a showdown with Brussels.

The shock revelation came as the leader of one of the parties, The League, said Italians no longer wanted to be “slaves” to the EU and financial markets.

A leaked draft document that was drawn up by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement on Monday suggested that the two parties, which are trying to form a coalition government after 10 weeks of post-election deadlock, would ask the European Central Bank to write off €250 billion – about 10 percent of Italy's debt with the institution.

The document also debated whether Italy should ditch the euro as its currency – an option that the parties later denied was on the cards.

Five Star and the League claimed on Wednesday that the draft document was “out of date” and had since been “substantially changed”.