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The former White House chief strategist said the EU’s approach to Brexit negotiations has been “nothing sort of shocking” as he predicted a hard Brexit outcome. Mr Bannon told the Telegraph: “Brussels has been vicious and dismissive [towards the UK]. “The contempt that Brussels has shown for the mandate of the working men and women of Great Britain, who want out, has been to me nothing short of shocking. “They haven’t accommodated anything, they have made everything as tough as possible. It’s not even been a negotiation. It’s been by fiat.”

REUTERS•GETTY Steve Bannon believes the EU's treatment of Britain will push the Government towards a hard Brexit

Mr Bannon, who until recently was one of President Trump’s closest aides, is in Italy ahead of the general election on Sunday and with the eurosceptic Five Star Movement predicted to emerge as the most popular party, the 64-year-old had a severe warning for Italians. He said: “I would say to the Italians, look at how Brussels has responded to the mandate the British people gave their government to get out (of the EU). “Eighteen months later, the British have very little to show as far as exit negotiations go.” The former Breitbart News chief believes Italy’s election is “the most important thing happening politically in the world right now” and could revive the populist revolution driven by Brexit and Trump’s election. READ MORE: Italian election 2018: Who are the contenders? Who is standing to become Italy PM?

REUTERS Mr Bannon is in Rome ahead of tomorrow's Italian election

They haven’t accommodated anything, they have made everything as tough as possible Steve Bannon

He said if polls are correct, two-thirds of Italians will vote for parties with anti-immigrant or populist views, from Five Star and The League to Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia. He added: “That’s nothing short of remarkable. Italy is, more than anywhere else in the world right now, even more than Brexit, even more than the Trump revolution in the US, the cutting edge of the sovereignty movement, of people saying we’ve tried to play by the rules, we’ve voted in centre-Left governments and centre-Right governments, and none of that has worked. “So now people are looking at another alternative. What they want is power back to the people in a populist revolt.” Mr Bannon believes there will be “hysteria” in Brussels if populist parties win, given Italy’s importance to the bloc.

PA On Friday the PM outlined plans for the future EU-UK relationship & vowed to leave the customs union