Alberto Bagnai was a baroque harpsichordist before he turned to writing about economics. Now he sits in the 16th-century palace that houses Italy’s Senate and wields a red and blue ballpoint pen to explain the country’s fight with Brussels.

He scoffs at the €3.4bn (£3bn) fine that the European Commission could impose if Italy refuses to rewrite its 2019 budget.

“We will give them 0.1% of our GDP in 10 cent coins,” he chortles.

Bagnai, 55, is dressed casually in jeans but behind his humour there is a serious political calculation.

He was elected in June as a senator for the League party, which dominates Italy’s ruling coalition. As chairman of the Senate’s finance committee he now has a key role in challenging Brussels to