Greece's decisive vote against the terms of its bail-out deal leads the news agenda this morning, with early results suggesting that the "no" (Oxi) campaign won by a 61-39 margin. The scale of the No vote has stunned European leaders and financial markets, and has given the reputation of pollsters - who said right until the eve of polling that the result was too close to call - a further knock. You can follow all the fall-out on our excellent liveblog here. Yanis Varoufakis has announced his resignation as Greece's finance minister, suggesting that Eurozone leaders wanted his head before they welcomed prime minister Alexis Tsipras back to the negotiating table. "I shall wear the creditors' loathing with pride," he wrote on his blog. The eurozone is still taking in the result, with Angela Merkel meeting with Francois Hollande later today, while David Cameron and George Osborne plan to hold an emergency meeting. Others have been quicker to react, with Merkel ally Hans Michelbach lambasting Greece for choosing "a path of isolation". Italy's foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni offered an olive branch, saying: "Now it is right to start trying for an agreement again." The "Greferendum" makes most of today's front pages. "Meltdown", says the Mail, "Europe in turmoil as Greece nears exit", we say, "Greeky Bum Time", says the Sun. "So what does Greece's no vote mean? EU leaders warned that it would see Greece crash out of the eurozone, while Tsipras insisted it would merely force them back to thrash out a better bailout deal. Greece's no vote "may appear irrational, but it is also understandable," we say. Tsipras has his mandate, he must make the best of it. |
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THE FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST Ministers are set to go further in capping welfare payments than the proposed £23,000-a-year household limit set out in the party's election manifesto, George Osborne has hinted. He has also ruled out cutting the top rate of tax will not be cut to 40p, revealing that he has now found £12 billion of cuts to Britain's welfare bill. The Chancellor said the BBC had to make "a contribution" to the budget cuts, and is also set to signal that almost one in four civil servants could lose their jobs. Chris Hope has rounded up everything we know about what will be in Osborne's statement. This comes as Boris Johnson urged the Chancellor to cut the top rate of tax to 40p and called for all workers to be paid the living wage. Writing in today's Telegraph, he said: "We should be cutting taxes all round – cutting the top rate as well as lifting the thresholds and taking the poor out of tax." Meanwhile, the Institute of Directors has urged Osborne to radically cut back the complexity of the British tax system when he delivers his emergency budget. "He will have the scope to do some really big things and to go down as a radical Chancellor," says Roger Bootle. CORBYN ABSORBIN' SUPPORT Labour MPs' decision to help the leftwinger Jeremy Corbyn enter the party's leadership race appears to be backfiring after Britain's biggest trade union told members to vote for him. Corbyn, who has been on Labour's hard Left for decades, only made it onto the ballot paper last month with minutes to spare after MPs lent him their votes to broaden the debate. Read more here. Corbyn's growing support could see Liz Kendall pushed into fourth place, according to the Times' Sam Coates. U-KIP ON WAITING, PEARSON The UK Independence Party could have to wait until 2020 before it is allowed any peers in the House of Lords – despite winning the support of millions of voters at the general election. David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has told Lord Pearson of Rannoch that he will consider new Ukip peers "over the course of this Parliament", in a letter seen by Chris Hope. UP IN THE AIR The government's dithering over airpor expansion is potentially costing Britain tens of billions of pounds due to lost trade to emerging economies, the Confederation of British Industry. The Mirror's Jack Blanchard has the story. "The Prime Minister has created the right conditions to make a third runway at Heathrow deliverable," writes Sir Nigel Rudd, chairman of Heathrow airport. "He can be assured that this is a new plan, ready for takeoff." KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT Kids Company, the youth charity founded by the flamboyant campaigner Camila Batmanghelidjh, could face an inquiry from the charity watchdog amid concerns over how millions of pounds of public money have been spent, John Bingham reports. The Charity Commission said it had been in contact with the group's trustees over the weekend to "urgently assess" whether concerns about supply of funding could cast doubt over its future. TAKING THE TAXPAYER FOR A RIDE? The Ministry of Defence has pledged to review its use of a fleet of cars that is costing £120 million each year, the Times' Callum Jones reports. Taxpayers are understood to be footing the bill for an average of 29,000 short-notice trips and 21,000 longer term leases of vehicles each month. WHO'LL FOLLOW ROBBO? The BBC is thought to be looking to appoint a woman as the face of the Corporation's political news after it emerged that Nick Robinson is likely to step down. Robinson, who has been BBC political editor for the past decade, is rumoured to be likely to be moving to a presenter's role on the corporation's flagship Today programme on Radio Four. Here are more details. DANCZUK DIVIDE |
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TOO MANY TWEETS @ObsoleteDogma: The fewer tries it takes you to spell "Dijsselbloem", the worse the euro crisis is. COMMENT From The Telegraph Boris Johnson - Let's cut taxes for people at the top and the bottom Tim Stanley - Greece has captured its conqueror. Now the EU should forgive and restructure the debt Sir Nigel Rudd - This Budget need not be a Greek tragedy if Osborne has ambition From the Politics blog Asa Bennett - The 7 Conservatives who want to be Mayor of London Paola Buonadonna - The EU's handling of the Greek crisis risks helping the 'better-off-outers' Verity Ryan - If we want to tackle extremism, we need to make a better offer From elsewhere Mary Dejevsky - The Greeks said No – but to what exactly? Edward Luce - The US is a helpless bystander on Greece 12.00 Deadline for Tory nominations for London Mayor close On this day The International Olympic Committee announced the 2012 Olympic Games would be held in London TODAY IN PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF COMMONS 14:30: Home Office questions (topicals at 15:15) HOUSE OF LORDS 14:30: Oral questions, to ask the Government: |
Monday, 6 July 2015
Oxi does it..
