Greece...

Graham_Devon

Harsh words coming from Germany.

“The eurozone is now well equipped to ensure that the reckless actions of a government won’t damage the stability of the currency area as a whole,” Eckhardt Rehberg, budget spokesman for Merkel’s CDU bloc in parliament, told the news agency.

“The door for further talks is and remains open. But we can’t accept any behavior that undermines the long- term foundation of the eurozone.”

Think some care is needed in the fallout here personally. It's difficult to claim that what the greeks have done as reckless without looking like some kind of dictatorship.

Their bit about the rest of the EU suffering due to a reckless government also creates divides. He was quite happy to impose all manner of stuff on Greece, but is practically blowing a gasket about people standing up to it and saying no.

I really really hope this doesn't unravel into something nasty. We've got enough of that going on at the moment. People have to either accept democracy, or stop pretending they are all for it.

The IMF response is worlds apart from Merkels spokespeople.

BlondeHeadOn

Letter: Time for a debt relief conference for Greece

From the Guardian's live updates on Greece situation, as of a few minutes ago. The below text is all quoted from the live updates feed:

A group of UK left-leading MPs, union chiefs and charity leaders have signed a letter today calling for a debt relief conference for Greece, and an end to austerity:
It says:

We call on David Cameron to support the organisation of a European conference to agree debt cancellation for Greece and other countries that need it, informed by debt audits and funded by recovering money from the banks and financial speculators who were the real beneficiaries of bailouts.
We believe there must be an end to the enforcing of austerity policies that are causing injustice and poverty in Europe and across the world.
We urge the creation of UN rules to deal with government debt crises promptly, fairly and with respect for human rights, and to signal to the banks and financiers that we won’t keep bailing them out for reckless lending.

Signed by:
Frances O’Grady, General Secretary, TUC; Len McCluskey, General Secretary, Unite the Union; Paul Kenny, General Secretary, GMB; Manuel Cortes, General Secretary, TSSA; Sarah-Jayne Clifton, Director, Jubilee Debt Campaign; Paul Mackney, Chair, Greece Solidarity Campaign; Nick Dearden, Global Justice Now; Owen Epsley, War on Want; James Meadway, New Economics Foundation; Ann Pettifor, Prime Economics
And the following MPs: Diane Abbott, Dave Anderson, Richard Burgon, Jeremy Corbyn, Jonathan Edwards, Margaret Ferrier, Roger Godsiff, Harry Harpham, Carolyn Harris, George Kerevan, Ian Lavery, Clive Lewis, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Caroline Lucas, John McDonnell, Liz McInnes, Rachael Maskell, Michael Meacher, Grahame Morris, Kate Osamor, Liz Saville-Roberts, Cat Smith, Chris Stephens, Jo Stevens, Catherine West, Hywel Williams.

Froggitt

Oh dear. Like Cameron has any influence in Europe. Like recovering money from banks is even remotely likely. Maybe countries that take on debt should repay it, rather than it going away with the debt reduction fairies.

BlondeHeadOn

Froggitt wrote: »

Oh dear. Like Cameron has any influence in Europe. Like recovering money from banks is even remotely likely. Maybe countries that take on debt should repay it, rather than it going away with the debt reduction fairies.

I know - I thought this might be somewhat overstating what the UK and DC can actually do....

tberry6686

looks like the Greek banks will not open tomorrow

worldtraveller

tberry6686 wrote: »

looks like the Greek banks will not open tomorrow

If an exit were to happen, an extended weekend was pretty much a certainty, and on the cards all along, giving time to start "stamping" those Greek Euro notes and getting the order in to De La Rue to get the Drachma printers up and running (if they haven't already! ).

Unfortunately there are no normal public holidays in Greece for some time now, therefore a "forced" bank closure on a Monday would have to fit.

However, it's still very much all up in the air right now, as I see it.

antrobus

antrobus wrote: »

If the Greeks continue to try an withdraw cash at the same rate as yesterday (over €1 billion, I understand) then somethings gotta give.

Something just gave.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Sunday announced a bank holiday and capital controls in Greece after Greeks responded to his surprise call for a referendum on bailout terms by pulling money out of banks.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/06/28/eurozone-greece-controls-idUKA8N0Z302L20150628

antrobus

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Harsh words coming from Germany....

The Austrian finance minister was even more blunt; "It's clear that one country can under no circumstances blackmail the European Commission and the euro countries."

The Eurogroup's recent decision was unanimous. They are all p***ed off with Tsipras.

Froggitt wrote: »

Oh dear. Like Cameron has any influence in Europe..

More to the point, none of the named signatories have any influence on Cameron. Like he's going to take any notice of what the likes of McCluskey and Abbott think about anything.

Graham_Devon

antrobus wrote: »

The Austrian finance minister was even more blunt; "It's clear that one country can under no circumstances blackmail the European Commission and the euro countries."

The Eurogroup's recent decision was unanimous. They are all p***ed off with Tsipras.

Yes, indeed they are.

While I realise you sit firmly behind the EU on this one, surely you have to ask yourself why they are annoyed.

It's because he hasn't done what they wanted him to do. It's because Greece, a small country, now threatens their EU project. It's because he's given the people a say, rather than the Eurocrats.

What would further loans have done? This thread is 3 years old and talks about bailouts and how they simply cannot work. 3 years later the EU still wants to do the same thing, yet expect a different result.

One small political party could be the start of a long road towards the end of the EU. That's what they are so hacked off. It's one thing to pass such harsh measures on to one small country to keep things going. It's another to have that one small country turn the screw the other way.

Froggitt

Ireland took the austerity medicine and the economy is on the up now. The Bubbles want their cake without paying for it.