This podcast is sponsored by Seller Plan from Barry Brothers and Rudd, collecting fine wines for future drinking.

Hello and welcome to The Spectator podcast. I'm Katie Balls. This week, the new Italian

coalition's proposed government was blocked by the Italian president, giving EU grandees in Brussels a cause for celebration.

But is the EU way too controlling of rebellious member states?

We hear from Douglas Murray and Tom Nuttall, the economist Charlemagne columnist.

The fact is that somebody who has even played around with these ideas and sometimes posited them is deemed to be

unacceptable by the president on behalf of Brussels is, I think, a profoundly serious challenge for people

who believe in democracy. On the home front, would a Eurozone crisis help or hinder Brexit negotiations?

I talk to James Forsyfe and Nigel Farage.

I think if, you know, this downturn that may come as a result of the Italian crisis

leads to a liquidity crisis in the banking sector, then effectively the city of London

is almost the lender of the last resort.

And last, things aren't going much better across the Atlantic with Mueller's investigation

on Trump.

Or are they?

I talked to those who know Mueller on his progress.

There have been 19 people indicted, three companies indicted, five plea deals.

There's one person in prison already.

When we compare this to previous investigations that were frankly less complex

and less international than this one, it does show you there is progress being made. And with

the plea deals that have come in, it would be surprising to me if there is not more information

that is more directly related to the Russian ties than we have seen before.

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