A future Italian government will shield Britain from any attempt by the EU to take revenge for Brexit after the Five Star Movement triumphs in fresh elections triggered by the presidential veto of its choice of economy minister, a leading member of the Eurosceptic party has told the Telegraph.

Fabio Castaldo is the highest-ranking Five Star member of the European Parliament and a close ally of the party’s leader, Luigi Di Maio, said that the new government would force Brussels to the negotiating table and strongarm the EU into a string of reforms.

Five Star was set to form an anti-establishment, populist government in Rome with the hard-right, anti-migrant League in a move that deeply alarmed EU mandarins. However their plans were thrown into chaos when Giuseppe Conte, the man named as the coalition’s prime minister resigned on Sunday, after failing to get presidential approval for his cabinet selection.

Mr Conte resigned after Sergio Mattarella, the president of Italy blocked the putative government’s choice for economy minister, the 81-year-old Paolo Savona, who has described the single currency as a “German cage”.

The veto came after a series of warnings across Europe that the potential government must not destablise the eurozone with its €100 billion-plus spending programme which would smash EU 3 per cent budget deficit ceiling if implemented.