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How is the EU ‘out’ campaign planning to win?
There’s a riff you hear around the top of government that the referendum on Europe is won. But the campaign for the UK to leave is gearing up…
There’s a riff you hear around the top of government that the referendum on Europe is won. But the campaign for the UK to leave is gearing up…
The Treasury says it’s secured a deal that stops the European Commission exposing the UK to potential future costs if Greece defaults on a new bridging loan.
“The most important currency has been lost,” remarked a rueful Angela Merkel on her way into the Eurozone talks today, “and that is trust.”
It is every bit as much about trust as about economics now. Of course, this being Brussels and this being the EU, nobody would ever use a word as straightforward as “trust”.
The Greeks arrived with a set of proposals widely scorned as “more austere than the ones they rejected”. The internet burst forth with catcalls – “they’ve caved in”.
Why did Varoufakis go? The official reason, on his blog, was pressure from creditors. But there are a whole host of other reasons that made it easier for him to decide to yield to it.
The IMF’s report yesterday got swamped amid the gloom, despondency and fractiousness of the Greek crisis. It said, in short, Greece’s debt has become unsustainable.
Last night’s ‘Yes’ campaign demo was big – I would say maybe a quarter bigger than the ‘No’ demo of Monday, and with a much more angry atmosphere.
The European deal done six days ago was supposed to stabilise the Greek debt crisis. But the situation in Greece is still critical.
The eurozone and IMF have done a deal with Greece, extending its bailout for four months in return for a commitment to run all policy measures with significant economic impact past the lenders.
Documents leaked to me last night shed new light, but not total clarity, on the dramatic breakdown of talks in Brussels over a new Greek bailout deal.
The far left Syriza party wins 149 seats out of 300 in the Greek parliament. What this means is that the EU/IMF strategy for dealing with the aftermath of the 2008 crisis is in tatters.
The exit polls put the far-left party Syriza on track to win the Greek election. If the predictions hold this is an earthquake: for Greece, for the eurozone and for centrist politics.
The ballot stations are still brisk at lunchtime, but a lot of people have already voted. This is a working class community – and on a Sunday the over-70s, who make up 22 per cent of Greek voters, are out in force.
Paul Mason continues his series of explaining the workings behind the Greek elections, and why it matters so much to us. Here he explains the eight parties all hoping to get into parliament.