Years ago I had a bit of a dabble in stocks and shares but it didn`t go well, so I bailed out although I held on to my paltry amount of shares in the now defunct Southampton Leisure Holdings Ltd, the then parent company of Southampton FC.  That all went pear shaped as well, so these days I don`t normally follow the ups and downs of the stock markets.

But it seems that the FTSE, the DAX and other leading markets have got the jitters again.  No great surprise except that the reason for these latest wobbles is all down to the way the Italian government and, of course, the EU Commission are behaving.

Not too long ago, there was a general election in Italy which saw the rise of the more populist, largely Euro-sceptic parties on the promise of spending more lire on mainly social issues such as increasing wages for the most poorly paid.  No wonder they romped home.

Now, as is the custom in the EU each member state is obliged to present its proposed budget for `approval` by the EU Commission and the Commission has `rejected` Italy`s budget and asked them to think again, reduce their proposed expenditure levels and resubmit their budget in three weeks time.

Now unless I`m misreading the situation in Italy, there was a general election which was won by the coalition of the populist Five Star and Norther League parties, who made pre-election promises to the voters which they are now seeking to implement through this budget.   I think it`s called democracy and however daft, trivial, dangerous the issues which won the day at the ballot box may have been, nevertheless that`s what the majority of Italians voted for and expect to be delivered.

Ring a bell?   The parallels are obvious, of course, and this is yet another example of the EU denying the democratic process and is yet another example of why people like me voted over two years ago to leave the dictatorial, remote, largely unaccountable EU and opt instead to reclaim our national sovereignty and have our destiny, whatever it may turn out to be, in our own hands.  

I accepted then and I still do, that the decision taken by the majority to leave the EU would have consequences, that there would in all probability be some initial financial and other effects but that as a resolute and resilient nation we would be more than capable of riding the storm and coming out the other side all the better for it. 

But the EU plot continues to thicken - Ireland, Greece, Maastricht, now Italy - and they continue to frustrate our own 2016 referendum as well.  And the more they do so,, the more the remainers march and rant about another `people`s vote`, the more determined I and I suspect still the majority in this country will be to get out while the going`s good.