The move could allow magistrates to try more serious crimes, and double the maximum punishments handed out for an offence from six to 12 months, helping a system the government said is on the “point of collapse”.

On the point of costs, Benn said he hoped the inquiry could avoid unnecessary costs given previous reviews and investigations as well as the large amount of material already in the public domain.

And this is where Meloni also comes in as a pivotal player who might have in her hands both the fate of von der Leyen and of a massive geopolitical bloc on the point of tilting ever further to the right.

The city, which seemed on the point of falling, was being evacuated.

"We were told it's less aggressive on your skin and on the point of entry into your vein," recalls her husband Mark.