• WHO would buy Italian government bonds rated a shade over junk and yielding slightly more than US Treasuries?

The European Central Bank has bought a third of a trillion euros worth. Add in Target2 imbalance and Italy is in the hole for three quarters of a trillion euros.

That’s 1,000 euros for everyone who marched for a Poltroon’s Vote. Collect from the cashier’s window as you leave.

This puts Italy in the box seat to do what Greece failed to in 2015 when its politicians lost their nerve and accepted more misery: see what you get when you fail to honour a referendum result.

Reject the demands being made by the Commission and stick to their budget. What can the Commission do?

To press the matter would be to expose the euro to a level of scrutiny it might not survive. Works for the first country out of the traps and Italy has a score to settle after Monti was imposed on them as prime minister.

By the way, the European Central Bank has a holding in Pret a Manger. There you have it: a currency backed by a sandwich.

It would be funny but for the fact it is a cause of misery with no end in sight and inflicted by people who will never suffer the consequences. How many marchers want the UK to adopt the euro?

STEPHEN SOUTHAM
Mildmay Grove North, N1