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Thursday, April 30, 2015

Question Time: Guardian/ICM poll 44% say Cameron won, 38% Miliband

Rolling coverage of the Question Time interviews with David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg, with comment and analysis and the results of our snap poll of who won.Ed Miliband takes questions from the audience David Cameron answers audience questions All today’s earlier general election events, on our Election live 2015 blog 9.42pm BST Here are the results of our poll. A colleague has just sent me this.An instant Guardian/ICM poll found that David Cameron had come out on top. 44% of viewers of the Question Time programme felt that DC had done “best on the night”, compared to 38% for Ed Miliband and 19% for Nick Clegg. 9.41pm BST Rowena Mason, our political correspondent, has been in the spin room and has the reactions from the journalists:William Hague, Liz Truss, Caroline Flint, Lucy Powell have just arrived in the spin house. Journos stopped listening to end of Clegg...Ed Miliband makes clear he would rather not have a Labour government than a confidence and supply with SNP. Spin room perks up with interestSilence in the spin room as Cameron gets a hard time on welfare and food banks. pic.twitter.com/2tPra6BNci 9.40pm BST You would have expected Nick Clegg to have had the toughest time, but it did not feel like him. The audience continued to ask sharp, aggressive questions, but somehow there was less passion in the last 30 minutes, probably because there is so much less at stake. Clegg is a diminished figure, and it shows. He also put in a creditable performance - no one bombed tonight - but Clegg seemed happier in multi-candidate debates, where he could differentiate himself from the others and present himself as the moderate choice. Overall, it has been at least 60 minutes of good TV, but this does not feel like an event that is going to shift perceptions. It would not surprise me if the polling figures we get broadly reflect what the polls are saying about voting intention.Clegg is sounding irritable with the questions he's asked. Not a mistake Miliband or Cameron made #bbcqtThis is like the most testing kind of X Factor. Nick Clegg doing quite well, so far, though he has had an easier ride than Ed M.Clegg getting applause here for saying he'll be brake on other two parties but it a tough slog for him, and he needs to get votes tonightAir is hissing out of the balloon with Nick CleggMore difficult for Clegg tonight - doesn't have the other leaders on stage to define himself against.Whisper it softly, and expect no Cleggmania, but the Lib Dem leader is doing quite well - especially on income tax threshold. #bbcqt 9.31pm BST Q: If you cannot remain in government, will you stay as leader of the Lib Dems?Clegg says he is only 48. He has got bags of energy. 9.30pm BST 9.27pm BST Clegg has lost some in the spin room.Loud chat at the back of the spin room. Not everyone listening to Nick Clegg. 9.27pm BST Nick Clegg says that party with most seats next week has the right toform a government. But this is not necesssarily the case. The House of Commons website says: In a situation of no overall control the government in power before the general election gets the first chance at creating a government, If they cannot do so, the prime minister will resign. 9.27pm BST This is from the Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman.Clegg pretending he won't give in on a referendum. Can and Mili pretending they will get a majority. This is one giant disingenuous meringue 9.26pm BST Q: Do you support Trident?Clegg says he supports Trident, but he would change the way it operates. We can scale it down to an extent, he says. 9.26pm BST Clegg says we are stronger when we do things together.Q: But what happens if the EU breaks up? 9.22pm BST Trussell Trust, a British charity, says sanctioning those on benefits is increasing driver of demand for foodbanks:83% of Trussell Trust foodbanks surveyed recently reported that benefits sanctions, which have become increasingly harsh, have caused more people to be referred to them for emergency food. Half of referrals to foodbanks in 2013-14 were a result of benefit delays or changes. 9.22pm BST Q: Is free movement in the EU creating a problem in the UK?Clegg says it did create a problem when free movement became the same as freedom to claim benefits. 9.17pm BST Clegg says Britain was in a real crisis in 2010. We could have gone the way of Greece.Q: We were nothing like Greece. 9.16pm BST Q: Why did you not form a government with Labour in 2010?Clegg says there was the small matter of democracy, and how people voted. 9.16pm BST Earlier Nick Clegg said his decision to back tuition fees was a difficult one for him. James O’Shaughnessy, Cameron’s former head of policy, says Clegg is not telling the truth.Clegg talking crap on tuition fees. He wasn't between 'rock and hard place'. I was in the room when he decided to vote for it. He was keen.Two reasons Clegg made LDs vote for £9k fees: 1. He thought that, as it came from LD dept (BIS), they should. 2. He agreed with policy.Won't do "a deal" with the SNP, won't "barter away" his manifesto. Not only are they blatant lies, they are massive hostages to fortune. 9.15pm BST Here’s that Miliband wobble from earlier: 9.13pm BST Q: How can we trust you given the fact that you broke your promise last time?Clegg says that is why he has been so clear on what the Lib Dem red lines would be. The Lib Dems, for example, would not accept education cuts. They are demanding more spending. 9.11pm BST Clegg says he is not pretending he will win a majority, unlike David Cameron and Ed Miliband.Q: Someone has to be PM. Who will you make PM if you have to decide. 9.11pm BST Q: Is leaking details of coalition talks likely to get you invited into coalition again?Nick Clegg says this is not a leak. Danny Alexander has spoken about this quite openly. 9.08pm BST Clegg said we could have been Greece in 2010.Technically speaking it is true that Britain and Greece had a similar deficit (roughly 11% of GDP) five years ago. However, that is where the similarities end. Britain was never on the verge of going bust.The UK is not Greece. It has much stronger institutions and – most important of all – a floating exchange rate. Related: Is David Cameron right: was the UK's deficit worse than Greece's? 9.06pm BST At least one thing is clear; there is no competition for the title of audience from hell. Guido Fawkes is delighted.This audience has no qualms about calling Cameron and Miliband liars. Excellent. #BBCqt@Ed_Miliband impressively calm in response to good questioning, but making speeches rather than answering directly.Ed Miliband standing firm on SNP despite tough questioning from Dimbleby and audience. Playing a tough hand with confidence. #bbcqt 9.05pm BST Both Labour and Tories want to restrict EU access to benefits, tackle wage-cutting and ensure public employees in public-facing positions speak english - Cameron has downgraded net migration target to an ambition - Miliband says missed targets corrode trust. 9.00pm BST This is proving to be a tough crowd for @Ed_Miliband as he's confronted by sceptical Yorkshire businessmen & women. Public beat pros again 8.59pm BST Q: What are you going to do to control immigration?Miliband says he has changed Labour’s stance on immigration. 8.58pm BST Q: A ban on zero-hours contracts will stop me running my business?Our next question to @Ed_Miliband is on Labour's approach zero hours contracts: #bbcqt #GE2015 pic.twitter.com/fSNoBhW2N4 8.56pm BST Q: What would you do on the welfare bill?Miliband says there is a cap on welfare spending. Labour has accepted that. 8.54pm BST Q: Does your party think that living on benefits is a valid lifestyle choice?No, says Miliband. 8.52pm BST Q: Don’t you realise how much more people would trust you if you told the truth? (The questioner is asking about Miliband saying he wants a majority.)Miliband repeats the point about not bartering aways his principles. 8.51pm BST Q: Why do you trust your view more than the public’s on an EU referendum?Miliband says, when he looks at the problems facing Britain, an EU referendum is not a priority. There are more important issues. 8.48pm BST Here’s the FT’s Giles Wilkes on Miliband’s comment about not doing a deal with the SNP.I suspect that Miliband's specific answers on the deals with the SNP will have the greatest bearing on future history of this evening 8.47pm BST Ed Miliband says we are not going to do a deal or have a coalition with the SNP or give into the SNP’s demands on Trident or the deficit. But he did not rule out a vote by vote arrangement which could see the SNP keeping a minority Labour government on the road. 8.47pm BST Miliband says he is not going to start bartering away his manifesto. 8.46pm BST Nigel Farage has offered his verdict on the programme so far.Cameron & Miliband scared of #SNP, just months after appeasing with money and power. Only UKIP MPs will revise the Barnett formula. #bbcqt 8.45pm BST Q: Why are you lying about not doing a deal with the SNP?Miliband says he is not going to do a deal with the SNP? 8.43pm BST Q: If you cannot accept that you overspent, why should we trust you again.Miliband says some parties want no cuts. That is not his policy. 8.41pm BST Q: Canada and Australia did not have these problems. We spent too much. And we sold off gold. You are just lying. Miliband says he is not going to convince this man. 8.39pm BST Q: Could you bridge the gap between the richest and the poorest?Miliband asks the questioner her name. It’s Shirley. 8.37pm BST 8.36pm BST Q: You left a note saying there’s no money. How can we trust you on the economy?Ed Miliband says he has a clear plan. He will cut the deficit, but in a fair way, with taxes for the rich. And he accepts that Labour did not regulate the banks properly. 8.34pm BST David Cameron implies EU migrants come only for the benefits. Four times as many Brits claim unemployment in UK as Germans in Britain. Cameron says that EU migrants get £8,000 a year in work benefits but didn’t mention that was mainly tax credits and they pay tax and national insurance. 8.33pm BST Ronald Reagan once said that you cannot hit a soft ball out of the park, I think, and David Cameron has illustrated that tonight rather well. During this campaign he has been shielded from aggressive scrutiny to a remarkable extent - he would not debate Ed Miliband head to head, he has not held a proper press conference, and he won’t even do Election Call, but tonight he faced very combative questions, and came out pretty well. In fact, it was striking how hostile they were. The audience are the winners so far. And it was interesting how many of the questions were about trust. Cameron was firmly on the defensive, and probably did not win anyone over, but he sounded more engaged than he has of late, and he held up well.Here is a small selection of Twitter comment on Cameron.Forget the specific answers: QT is a battle of tone. Cameron is markedly more energetic vs previous TV performances. Can EdM match him?A tenner says Cameron's first words backstage are something along the lines of "tough crowd". Great TV though. #bbqtTV #bbcqt debate so far: David Cameron has taken a hammering from the audience on welfare, but has fought back hard on NHS.Cameron’s top lip is a bit sweaty but he is doing quite well so far, addressing his ‘passion problem’ and making his argumentsThis #bbcqt audience is seriously impressive...much more challenging than audience in Sky/Channel 4 event 8.30pm BST Q: What would you be specific on in coalition talks?Cameron says having an EU referendum is a red line. 8.29pm BST I am at a pub with Tory activists in Westminster. They are very cheery about Cameron's performance so far. 8.27pm BST .@David_Cameron Freedom of movement was meant to be about the freedom to move & get a job; not about freedom to move & get benefits #bbcqt 8.27pm BST A questioner tells Cameron the questions he is getting have a moral dimension, but Cameron is only answering them in terms of economics.This gets a round of applause. 8.25pm BST Cameron says he wants to see net migration come down to below 100,000.Q: You made similar promises in 2010, and you lied. How can we trust you now? 8.23pm BST 8.23pm BST Q: If we remain in the EU, how can you control immigration?This is the Nigel Farage question. 8.22pm BST Dimbleby takes Cameron back to the question. Why don’t people trust the Tories on the NHS?Cameron says this is his life’s work. He has seven days left to prove this to people. But you need a strong economy to keep the NHS strong. The economies that “tank and bomb” cannot look after their health services. 8.20pm BST Q: Is it really that difficult to hit the A&E targets?That is a good point, Cameron says. The hospital here meets it. But there is a lot of pressure on the NHS, he says. 8.20pm BST Cameron says, as long as he is prime minister, the NHS will remain free at the point of delivery. 8.19pm BST Cameron's ducking on where £12bn of welfare cuts will fall pushes him into the negative - Sun's Twitter Worm; http://t.co/rkFSOHsp4j 8.18pm BST Q: Why did you introduce top-down reorganisation in the NHS?Cameron says the NHS now is stronger than it was. 8.17pm BST 8.17pm BST Q: Why do you think voters do not trust you on the NHS?Our third #bbcqt question is about the NHS. #GE2015 pic.twitter.com/r8L70AML0g 8.16pm BST Labour HQ have been in touch. They think Cameron did not rule out cutting child tax credit, because, they say, he only said he did not want to cut it. 8.15pm BST Q: Does your decision to propose a tax lock law reflect the fact we cannot trust you because of the lies you told last time?Cameron says he does not want to keep putting taxes up. 8.15pm BST The spin room winced a little as David Cameron was accused of deceit over welfare by an audience member. Around a hundred journalists are packed into the tiled hall of Leeds art gallery, along with a smattering of spinners. 8.12pm BST Cameron says Ed Miliband is saying go on with the budget deficit forever.Q: Why won’t you debate with him directly, instead of pointing fingers at him in his absence. 8.12pm BST David Cameron said there were families claiming £70,000, £80,000 and even £90,000 a year in housing benefit. DWP figures show that there are just 6 families claiming more than £1,400 a year in housing benefit - each with more than nine children - totalling £73,000 a week. The DWP say only 698 families are getting more than the £500 a week housing benefit cap. The DWP said: In real terms, housing benefit has fallen for the first time in a decade. 8.11pm BST This is from Marcus Roberts, the former Fabian Society deputy general secretary.Cameron has clearly drunk the 5 espressos Crosby gave him. But I worry that in his need to show "passion" he'll run over his questioners! 8.10pm BST Q: Do you either know what you want to do on welfare and aren’t saying? Or don’t you know?Cameron says he did not ask for the report mentioned by Danny Alexander.It is not going to fall. 8.06pm BST Q: You quoted some families receiving £70,000 in benefits. How many families were actually on that?Not many, says Cameron. But you have to keep welfare down. If you don’t want that, vote for Ed Miliband.Starting a life on benefits is frankly no life at all. 8.03pm BST David Cameron arrives. 8.01pm BST David Dimbleby is introducing the programme. 7.59pm BST PM just overheard in studio, by us in spin room in warm up for @bbcqt saying "1,2,3 really good to be here, really big opportunity" 7.59pm BST Caroline Flint, the shadow energy secretary, is in the spin room for Labour. She is spinning on Twitter too.Once again David Cameron is in the same place with the same audience but refuses to debate @Ed_Miliband face to face #bbcqt #labour 7.57pm BST Tories unhappy 50% of #BBCDebate audience is left-wing, Labour that 50% is govt. LDs delighted they're on 25% for the first time in 5 years 7.57pm BST More from the spin room.Lib Dem big guns here tonight: Paddy Ashdown and Tim Farron. #bbcqtLoving the Art Deco spin room for leaders #bbcqt programme in Leeds . pic.twitter.com/wDvqTEHOfZ"Scotland forever" Royal Scots Greys Waterloo charge in Leeds Arts Gallery, tonight the #bbcqt spinroom pic.twitter.com/yH2vhDIlS9Ah I'm informed the spin room is actually High Victorian Gothic not Art Deco #pleb #ignoramus #bbcqt 7.54pm BST 8 mins #bbcqt. But what impact will tonight's debate have? Exclusive poll shows how important TV is for older voters. pic.twitter.com/34flPc4kTC 7.47pm BST Ed Miliband has used Twitter to post his own question to David Cameron.There’s no question the Tories will cut child benefit if they win, the only question is will David Cameron be honest about it tonight #BBCQT 7.35pm BST Here is David Cameron arriving at Leeds town hall for the Question Time event: 7.19pm BST And here is the spin room.Looking down on the spin room / 10th circle of hell pic.twitter.com/K49WnCE1EGThe Question Time leaders show spin room https://t.co/rgfdHmOcDf 7.18pm BST The Question Time event is in Leeds town hall. As the BBC’s Ross Hawkins reports on Twitter, the building is full of sound advice for our leaders.Honesty is the best - a slogan looming above the leaders' Question Time show tonight pic.twitter.com/rp5zMHaT6vMore Victorian civic advice from setting of Question Time leaders show pic.twitter.com/CFaBhdJcYZ 7.12pm BST 7.08pm BST Ukip has accused the BBC of “capitulating” to the BBC by not allowing Nigel Farage to be included in the election Question Time. This is what Suzanne Evans, the Ukip deputy chair, said earlier.Ukip is very disappointed that it seems that the broadcaster and the BBC have capitulated to David Cameron’s demands not to be seen alongside Nigel Farage, because he’s clearly, I think, running scared of him. 6.37pm BST A week tonight we’ll be hours away from the election result. And, with the polls still suggesting that neither of the two main parties has achieved a breakthrough yet and that we’re heading for a hung parliament where David Cameron and Ed Miliband could both struggle to win a majority, tonight is the last big set-piece TV event of the campaign.It is the Question Time Election Leaders Special. We are not going to see Cameron, Miliband and Nick Clegg debate head to head, but they will all be grilled by a Question Time audience, with David Dimbleby chairing and, hopefully, asking the incisive, deadly follow-up questions that make him such a good chair for events like this.The BBC has defended how it chose the audience for the leaders’ debate on Question Time, after its selection process was accused of both leftwing and pro-coalition bias.The audience for BBC1’s Question Time Election Leaders Special on Thursday, which will feature David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg, will be made up of 25% of those who say they will vote Tory, 25% Labour supporters, 25% Liberal Democrat supporters, 15% who favour “other parties” and 10% who say they are undecided. Continue reading...


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Death along the Balkan route

In April, 14 refugees died in Macedonia, hit by a train while walking the railroad tracks on their way north. EU member Greece and other transit countries tend to turn a blind eye when refugees pass through.


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IMF does not expect a Grexit

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) doesn’t expect Greece to exit the eurozone, a spokesman said Thursday, but he signalled the IMF could be preparing contingency plans if Athens defaults. “Our baseline position is that we don’t expect an exit,” IMF spokesman ...


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Dijsselbloem criticizes Tsipras & Varoufakis for giving … interviews!

Huh!? We have a saying in Greek, I will reveal it to you at the end of the post… Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem warned the Greek government that Europe is prepared for any outcome to the standoff between Greece and its creditors. Of course, Dijsselbloem did […]


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Greek bond yields slide as Athens resets talks – FT

Yields on Greek bonds tumbled on Thursday as investors bought up both short- and long-dated paper after Athens re-shuffled its team negotiating with international creditors on a list of economic reforms to unlock bailout funding earlier this week. A report ...


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Mob of Anarchists Attacks Greek Finance Minister Varoufakis at Dinner

Days after being pulled back from leading the Greek diplomatic team in talks with the European Union regarding the nation's astronomical debt, Greek ...


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IMF says next Greek payment to Fund due May 6

Greek officials face growing pressure at home and abroad to reach an agreement with European and IMF lenders to avert a national bankruptcy.


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New Greek team in EU capital for bailout talks

Relations between Greece and its EU partners reached a new low last week (24 April), when Greek Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was scolded by ...


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How Tsipras Squandered Greece's Opportunity

BERLIN -- One can only feel sorry for Greece. For more than five years, the "troika" (the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund) has made it the object of a failed experiment with austerity that has exacerbated the country's economic crisis. And now Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's government seems hell-bent on plunging Greece into the abyss. It never had to be this way. By the time Tsipras's leftist Syriza party came to power in January, a new, more growth-oriented compromise had become possible. Even hardcore German proponents of austerity -- and certainly Chancellor Angela Merkel -- had begun to reconsider their position, owing to their policy prescriptions' undeniable adverse consequences for the euro and the stability of the European Union. The Tsipras government, with some justification, could have presented itself as Europe's best partner for implementing a far-reaching program of reform and modernization in Greece. Measures to compensate the poorest met with considerable sympathy in EU capitals, and favorable sentiment would have strengthened had Greece started to cut its bloated defense budget (as a leftist government might have been expected to do). But Tsipras squandered Greece's opportunity, because he and other Syriza leaders were unable to see beyond the horizon of their party's origins in radical opposition activism. They did not understand -- and did not want to understand -- the difference between campaigning and governing. Realpolitik, in their view, was a sellout. Of course, it is precisely the acceptance of necessity that marks the difference between government and opposition. An opposition party may voice aspirations, make promises, and even dream a little; but a government party cannot remain in some imaginary world or theoretical system. And the dreamier an opposition party's promises are, the bigger the challenge of narrowing the gap with reality if, like Syriza, it actually wins an election and comes to power. Indeed, Tsipras seems to have forgotten the Marxist tradition's emphasis on the dialectical unity of theory and practice. If you want to negotiate a change of tack with your creditors, you are unlikely to succeed if you destroy your own credibility and rant and rave about those whose money you need to avoid default. That, at least, is the lesson most of us have learned from theory and practice (also known as life). But Syriza's inability to escape its radical bubble does not explain why it formed a coalition with the far-right Independent Greeks, when it could have governed with one of the centrist pro-European parties. I hope that they do not share policy priorities, particularly a change of strategic alliances, which would be equally bad for Greece and for Europe. But two steps by Tsipras soon after he took office have heightened my skepticism: his flirtation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his attempt to isolate Germany within the eurozone, which never could have worked. Within Europe's monetary union, a consensus has been established that everything possible must be done to keep Greece inside. But Greece's government needs to understand that other eurozone members will not be willing to accommodate its demands if it means delegitimizing their own painful reforms. More important, with the clock ticking on default (which could come as early as July), the Greek authorities need to persuade their partners through action, not promises. A disorderly Greek exit from the euro -- currently the greatest danger -- can be averted only if both sides operate on the assumption that the upcoming negotiations are not about who wins and who loses. This will be not be easy: all sides face significant domestic pressure, and any compromise will leave everyone with some explaining to do back home. But even if there were no troika and no monetary union, Greece would urgently need far-reaching reforms to get back on its feet. What it also needs is time and money, which the EU should provide if, and when, the Greek authorities face up to reality. But others in Europe need to abandon their illusions as well. The Greek crisis cannot be used either to weaken European conservatives and change the balance of power within the EU, or to remove the Greek left from office. The current crisis and the negotiations to resolve it are about only one thing: Greece's future within Europe and the future of the joint European project. To help Greece get back on its feet and keep it in the eurozone is in Europe's interest, both politically and economically. But any agreement on how that is to be achieved now requires Greece to prove that it shares the same goal. © Project Syndicate -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.


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Greek bailout talks to stretch into weekend

Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, center, is surrounded by protesters and media workers outside the Finance ministry in Athens, Greece, ...


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Greece to present reforms draft to creditors to unlock loans

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece says it will discuss with its European creditors on Thursday a draft bill of reforms it hopes will earn their approval and pave the way for the unlocking of vitally needed bailout funds.


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'We won't surrender': Firebrand Greek minister risks fresh schism with Europe

Hopes that a revamped Greek bail-out team would finally break deadlock with creditors took a fresh blow on Wednesday, after a senior government minister pledged "no surrender" to international lenders. Highlighting a deep schism within the ruling party ...


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Commitment anxiety

THE romance between Ukraine and the European Union is full of unmet expectations. Ukraine wants commitment from the EU; the EU wants proof that Ukraine has really changed. When EU officials visited Kiev on April 27th for a joint summit, they snubbed Ukraine’s requests for a peacekeeping force in the Donbas, for additional military aid and for visa-free travel. Western financial assistance is trickling in, but Ukraine wants more. “Greece already received $300 billion, with no war, with no Russian tanks,” Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the prime minister, said after the summit. Ukraine, he complained, has received just one-tenth as much. The EU says help will come, but only after reforms. “You keep reforming, we keep supporting,” said the European Commission’s president, Jean-Claude Juncker. European leaders want to see Ukraine implement its new laws and decentralise governance, as agreed in the Minsk peace plan. Some worry that failure to do this will invite Russia to relaunch the war. Already violence is ticking up near the rebel capital of Donetsk and the Ukrainian-held port of Mariupol. Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president, takes umbrage at charges that reforms are lagging. Lawmakers recently passed legislation to break up gas monopolies, increase energy-sector competition, and unbundle the state gas conglomerate Naftogaz, a fiscal black hole. Last month Mr...


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Eurozone recovery hopes boosted as Spain announces GDP rise

Spanish growth highlights contrast with Greece where fears about cash crisis remain highSpain’s economy is growing at its fastest pace since before the global economic crisis in 2007, official figures showed on Thursday, boosting hopes that the eurozone is bouncing back, despite the ongoing turmoil in Greece.The expansion of Spain's economic activity has been driven by important structural reforms Related: Eurozone recovery defies the odds but long-term problems remain Continue reading...


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The enforcer

IF IT’S a Wednesday, it must be Vestager day. Or so it has seemed this month in Brussels, as Margrethe Vestager, the European competition commissioner, has made ambitious moves against formidable adversaries for three weeks in a row. On April 15th it was Google, which Ms Vestager thinks unfairly privileges its shopping service over rivals. A week later she trained her sights on Gazprom, Russia’s mostly state-owned gas giant, accusing it of unfair pricing and market meddling. And on April 29th Ms Vestager announced a probe into the subsidies European governments provide to electric utilities, some of which she thinks may amount to illegal state aid. Amid constant reminders of the EU’s weakness, from Mediterranean migration to the endless Greek saga, Ms Vestager’s shows of strength are a reminder that Brussels has bite. Ms Vestager, who previously served as Denmark’s economy minister, is clearly a tough cookie. But her impact has as much to do with European law as with her personality. Unburdened by the constraints that shackle most of her 27 fellow commissioners, she can block mergers, launch surprise raids on private offices and threaten...


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IMF Doesn't Expect Greece to Exit Eurozone

The International Monetary Fund doesn’t expect Greece to exit the eurozone, a spokesman said Thursday, but he signaled the IMF could be preparing contingency plans if Athens defaults.


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Kipper Williams on Greek exit from the eurozone

Ratings agency Moody’s claimed that the odds were shortening on Greece leaving the eurozone as talks continue Continue reading...


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Eurozone recovery defies the odds but long-term problems remain

Spain’s economy is going like a rocket but unemployment is still the dark cloud that hangs over the euro areaPerhaps it was the warmer winter that spurred economic activity in the eurozone, or maybe confidence was boosted by a financial firewall being erected around Greece to protect against a messy default. Related: Eurozone recovery hopes boosted as Spain announces GDP rise Continue reading...


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Europe Credit Squeeze Ending

Europe’s credit squeeze ended in March, ECB figures say, but a report suggests that concerns over Greece could dampen economic recovery.


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Greek PM Tsipras Optimistic Over Negotiation Outcome

A cabinet meeting chaired by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras took place in Athens late on Thursday with the focus mainly on developments in the negotiation with the country’s creditors, the efforts to reach an agreement over the next days, the measures that the Greek government is willing to impose and domestic politics on improving the government’s image. The Greek government is hoping to rush the negotiation with the institutions, while they believe it is possible to hold an emergency Eurogroup on Monday, May 4, which will record the negotiation progress. Meanwhile, the Greek Prime Minister appeared optimistic that a solution will be found in regards to the interim agreement. “I am optimistic that we are close to an agreement that will remain within the mandate that we have received from the people of Greece and will be defined by the red lines we have already set,” stated Tsipras during his speech at the cabinet meeting. The omnibus bill was not discussed in today’s cabinet meeting, according to government officials who noted that there was no reason for such a discussion while the talks in Brussels are still underway.


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Greek Parliament to give priority to Siemens, 'Lagarde list' cases

Two ongoing corruption cases sent to Parliament, one relating to the Siemens scandal and one to the so-called 'Lagarde list',  are to be "bumped up" the queue of cases pending and examined as a priority in Parliament's ...


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Tsipras confident of solution 'close' to popular mandate soon

Addressing a meeting of the cabinet late on Thursday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appeared confident that Greece was close to an acceptable solution on an interim agreement with its creditors very soon, sources said. "I am optimistic that we ...


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How Tsipras Squandered Greece's Opportunity

BERLIN -- One can only feel sorry for Greece. For more than five years, the "troika" (the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund) has made it the object of a failed experiment with austerity that has exacerbated the country's economic crisis. And now Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's government seems hell-bent on plunging Greece into the abyss. It never had to be this way. By the time Tsipras's leftist Syriza party came to power in January, a new, more growth-oriented compromise had become possible. Even hardcore German proponents of austerity -- and certainly Chancellor Angela Merkel -- had begun to reconsider their position, owing to their policy prescriptions' undeniable adverse consequences for the euro and the stability of the European Union. The Tsipras government, with some justification, could have presented itself as Europe's best partner for implementing a far-reaching program of reform and modernization in Greece. Measures to compensate the poorest met with considerable sympathy in EU capitals, and favorable sentiment would have strengthened had Greece started to cut its bloated defense budget (as a leftist government might have been expected to do). But Tsipras squandered Greece's opportunity, because he and other Syriza leaders were unable to see beyond the horizon of their party's origins in radical opposition activism. They did not understand -- and did not want to understand -- the difference between campaigning and governing. Realpolitik, in their view, was a sellout. Of course, it is precisely the acceptance of necessity that marks the difference between government and opposition. An opposition party may voice aspirations, make promises, and even dream a little; but a government party cannot remain in some imaginary world or theoretical system. And the dreamier an opposition party's promises are, the bigger the challenge of narrowing the gap with reality if, like Syriza, it actually wins an election and comes to power. Indeed, Tsipras seems to have forgotten the Marxist tradition's emphasis on the dialectical unity of theory and practice. If you want to negotiate a change of tack with your creditors, you are unlikely to succeed if you destroy your own credibility and rant and rave about those whose money you need to avoid default. That, at least, is the lesson most of us have learned from theory and practice (also known as life). But Syriza's inability to escape its radical bubble does not explain why it formed a coalition with the far-right Independent Greeks, when it could have governed with one of the centrist pro-European parties. I hope that they do not share policy priorities, particularly a change of strategic alliances, which would be equally bad for Greece and for Europe. But two steps by Tsipras soon after he took office have heightened my skepticism: his flirtation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his attempt to isolate Germany within the eurozone, which never could have worked. Within Europe's monetary union, a consensus has been established that everything possible must be done to keep Greece inside. But Greece's government needs to understand that other eurozone members will not be willing to accommodate its demands if it means delegitimizing their own painful reforms. More important, with the clock ticking on default (which could come as early as July), the Greek authorities need to persuade their partners through action, not promises. A disorderly Greek exit from the euro -- currently the greatest danger -- can be averted only if both sides operate on the assumption that the upcoming negotiations are not about who wins and who loses. This will be not be easy: all sides face significant domestic pressure, and any compromise will leave everyone with some explaining to do back home. But even if there were no troika and no monetary union, Greece would urgently need far-reaching reforms to get back on its feet. What it also needs is time and money, which the EU should provide if, and when, the Greek authorities face up to reality. But others in Europe need to abandon their illusions as well. The Greek crisis cannot be used either to weaken European conservatives and change the balance of power within the EU, or to remove the Greek left from office. The current crisis and the negotiations to resolve it are about only one thing: Greece's future within Europe and the future of the joint European project. To help Greece get back on its feet and keep it in the eurozone is in Europe's interest, both politically and economically. But any agreement on how that is to be achieved now requires Greece to prove that it shares the same goal. © Project Syndicate -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.


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Greek Debt Deal Talks Drone On

Greece has entered a new round of bailout talks with creditors that are expected to got into the weekend, but insists there won't be key concessions. The post Greek Debt Deal Talks Drone On appeared first on The National Herald.


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National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NBG): Greece Inches Toward A Compromise

National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG) stock is currently cruising in the red today, with a fall of nearly 3% in pre-market trading as of 6:42 AM ...


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Carinthia Won't Be the Next Greece

Carinthia, the tiny Austrian province that guaranteed 20 billion euros ($22 billion) of a bankrupt bank's debt, has been compared to Greece. On the ...


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Kipper Williams on Greek exit from the eurozone

Ratings agency Moody’s claimed that the odds were shortening on Greece leaving the eurozone as talks continue Continue reading...


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IMF confident Greece will stay in EU

The International Monetary Fund doesn't expect Greece to exit the eurozone, but it has hinted it could be preparing contingency plans if Athens ...


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Eurozone recovery hopes boosted as Spain announces GDP rise

Spanish growth highlights contrast with Greece where fears about cash crisis remain highSpain’s economy is growing at its fastest pace since before the global economic crisis in 2007, official figures showed on Thursday, boosting hopes that the eurozone is bouncing back, despite the ongoing turmoil in Greece.The expansion of Spain's economic activity has been driven by important structural reforms Related: Eurozone recovery defies the odds but long-term problems remain Continue reading...


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New chef at Opa, and he's really cooking Greek

For the first time in four years, brother-and-sister co-owners George and Vasiliki Tsiouris have retained the services of a Greek American chef for their ...


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Lincoln's Legacy Inspires Greek Family Business In Decatur

The Lincoln Square Lounge has been in Andrew Chiligiris's family for three generations. He says Lincoln's legacy played a role establishing his Greek ...


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Greek says No to demanded reforms

Greece has entered a new round of bailout talks with creditors that are expected to stretch into the weekend, but insists it is not ready to make key ...


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Three Greek Islands Are the Most Popular in the Mediterranean

The top three spots on the list of the 30 most popular islands in the Mediterranean are occupied by the Greek islands of Ios, Hydra and Folegandros. The list was published after a survey on the search history and hotel price comparison of travel website Trivago. The research, which was published yesterday, was conducted based on searches made between April 1 and September 30, 2014, for trips made during that period. In order to conduct the survey, Trivago used information from the travelers’ reviews in 51 different platforms. The final results included islands with at least 50 hotels and 50 reviews per hotel. In total, thirteen Greek islands were included on the list of the thirty most popular islands in the Mediterranean. As mentioned above, Ios, Hydra and Folegandros occupied the top three places, while the Greek island of Santorini ranked in 5th place, Mykonos in 6th, Naxos in 7th and Paros in 8th place. Furthermore, Spetses, Crete, Zakynthos, Kos, Rhodes and Corfu also made it on the list, in 14th, 16th, 20th, 23rd, 27th and 29th place respectively.


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ATHEX: Coeure statement sends stocks higher

The Greek bourse has ended April with a bang, as Thursday’s session appeared quiet for the most part before buyers rushed in during the last 40 minutes to send the benchmark over 3 percent higher.


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Ghost Resort in Cyprus Might Become Peace Offering

The deserted tourist resort in Varosha, Cyprus, might play a serious role in a 41-year-old diplomatic dispute between the Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus and the legitimate Cypriot government. The resort in Varosha, near the city of Famagusta, was a splendid example of what a holiday in the east Mediterranean means. Back in the sixties, movie stars and the world’s rich and famous used to enjoy its luxuries and natural beauty. Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot were just two of its famous clientele. All that stopped in July 1974, when the Turkish armed forces invaded the northern part of the island in response to a military coup that was instigated by Greece’s junta with the ambition to unite the two countries. The mostly Greek-Cypriot population of the area was forced to flee and never came back. The resort was abandoned and became a seaside ghost town, guarded nevertheless by Turkish soldiers. Cars from the 60s and 70s have remained rusting in the parking lots, while mannequins in the stores still wear dusty fashion clothes from fabulous 1974. However, there is a possibility that all that might change. On Sunday, an independent leftist, Mustafa Akinci, was “elected” President of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” a bogus country only Turkey recognizes. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades welcomed Akinci’s “election,” who was mayor of the northern half of Nicosia for 14 years and has often expressed ideas of a reunited Cyprus, having an olive branch as his campaign logo. “At last, our hopes are high that this country can be reunited.” Akinci expressed the idea that Varosha should be returned to Greek-Cypriots as an act of good faith so that Turkey and Cyprus can finally come to a settlement of the decades-long dispute. The Varosha resort can serve as a diplomatic gift. The two leaders agreed to meet next week, opening again the lines of communication after peace talks had frozen in October 2014, when Anastasiades suspended his participation following a Navigational Telex (NAVTEX) issued by Turkey for the conduction of hydrocarbons research in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) by seismic vessel “Barbaros,” escorted by a number of Turkish Navy ships.


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Ground Zero in Athens provides refuge for Londoner fleeing costs

Londoner Eleni Kyriacou is building her fashion brand on the ruins of Greece’s textile industry.


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House speaker orders Parliament to re-examine Siemens, Lagarde list cases

Greek Parliament was expected to re-examine the cases of the Siemens bribe scandal and the Lagarde list, following an order issued by House Speaker Zoe Constantopoulou on Thursday in her capacity as head of the House's Special Permanent Committee on Institutions and Transparency.


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Police seeking Larissa bank robbers

Police in Larissa, central Greece, were seeking three suspects who allegedly stormed a Piraeus branch in Ambelonas on Thursday.


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Eurostat: Greek Unemployment at 25.7% in January

The Greek unemployment rate slightly eased to 25.7% in January, compared to December 2014, but remained the highest in the Eurozone and the EU, Eurostat said on Thursday. In a released report, Eurostat said unemployment in the Eurozone and the EU-28 in March was at 11.3% and 9.8% respectively, unchanged from February, but down compared to March 2014 (11.7% and 10.4%). The number of unemployed people in March was 23.7 million in the EU and 18.1 million in the Eurozone. Greece recorded the highest unemployment rate followed by Spain (23%) and Cyprus (16%). Germany (4.7%) and Austria (5.6%) recorded the lowest unemployment rates. In Greece, the number of unemployed people fell to 1.22 million in January, with the unemployment rate at 22.5% among men and 29.6% among women. The unemployment rate among young people, aged below 25, fell to 50.1% in January from 50.8% in December, followed by Spain (50.15%), Croatia (45.5%) and Italy (43.%). Germany (7.2%), Austria (10.5%), Denmark and Holland (10.8%) recorded the lowest unemployment rates among young people. In the Eurozone, youth unemployment was at 22.7% in March. (Source: ANA-MPA)


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Greece seeks to change Fraport airports deal, source says

Greece is trying to change the conditions of a deal to lease 14 regional airports to a joint venture led by German airport operator Fraport, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.


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Offshore Potential Drives Eastern Mediterranean To Lay Down Maritime Borders

Intent becoming active components of the Eastern Mediterranean’s energy boom, Cyprus, Greece and Egypt announced plans to establish maritime borders in the surrounding waters, setting the stage for offshore licensing and eventual exploration.


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There is a plan B for Greece, Dijsselbloem says

The head of the Eurogroup said on Thursday that Europe is prepared for various outcomes to the standoff between Greece and its creditors. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads the group of finance ministers of countries that use the euro, had been ...


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New wine and culinary retail center to open in Greece

Construction is underway in Greece for a destination wine and food center that will open mid-June. 2foodies Wine & Spirits features over 5,000 square ...


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Stocks off lows on progress towards Greece deal

Meanwhile, Greece's government signaled the biggest concessions so far as crunch talks with lenders on a cash-for-reforms package started in ...


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IMF Doesn't Expect Greece to Exit Eurozone

The International Monetary Fund doesn't expect Greece to exit the eurozone, a spokesman said Thursday, but he signaled the IMF could be preparing ...


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IMF says next Greek payment to Fund due May 6

Greek officials face growing pressure at home and abroad to reach an agreement with European and IMF lenders to avert a national bankruptcy.


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New Greek team in EU capital for bailout talks

Relations between Greece and its EU partners reached a new low last week (24 April), when Greek Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was scolded by ...


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When to include your sorority or fraternity on your résumé

Given the numerous Greek life scandals that have been surfacing, it can be difficult to know whether it would help or hurt to include your fraternity or sorority on your résumé. We turned to the career experts and asked their opinion; the consensus was an overwhelming yes — but only if you recently graduated.  "Employers want to see that you were active in your college campus, in addition to getting good grades and pursuing relevant internships," says Amanda Augustine, a career management expert and spokesperson at TheLadders, an online job-matching service for professionals. "It shows that you were a well-rounded student and were able to handle multiple activities in between study sessions." If you held a leadership position within your house, make sure to highlight that, Augustine says: "It demonstrates your leadership skills and your ability to take initiative." Additionally, many sorority's and fraternity's are involved in community service and charitable activities, which employers react favorably to, she explains. Another benefit: You may end up interviewing with someone who was in the same sorority or fraternity, and you'll have an instant connection — which can be a great icebreaker when you're in the hot seat. However, the experts note that once you've secured your first job and have started your professional career, your any mention of Greek life should be removed from your résumé. "Your résumé real estate is precious," says Augustine. "Leave these activities for a mention in your LinkedIn profile instead. The only exception would be if you ended up looking for a new job and it's been less than two years since you graduated."SEE ALSO: The perfect time to show up for a job interview Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: What the Chinese saying 'The ugly wife is a treasure at home' actually means


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Greek bailout talks to stretch into weekend

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has entered a new round of bailout talks with creditors that are expected to stretch into the weekend, but insists it is ...


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The enforcer

IF IT’S a Wednesday, it must be Vestager day. Or so it has seemed this month in Brussels, as Margrethe Vestager, the European competition commissioner, has made ambitious moves against formidable adversaries for three weeks in a row. On April 15th it was Google, which Ms Vestager thinks unfairly privileges its shopping service over rivals. A week later she trained her sights on Gazprom, Russia’s mostly state-owned gas giant, accusing it of unfair pricing and market meddling. And on April 29th Ms Vestager announced a probe into the subsidies European governments provide to electric utilities, some of which she thinks may amount to illegal state aid. Amid constant reminders of the EU’s weakness, from Mediterranean migration to the endless Greek saga, Ms Vestager’s shows of strength are a reminder that Brussels has bite. Ms Vestager, who previously served as Denmark’s economy minister, is clearly a tough cookie. But her impact has as much to do with European law as with her personality. Unburdened by the constraints that shackle most of her 27 fellow commissioners, she can block mergers, launch surprise raids on private offices and threaten...


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