Greece Gears Up For Austerity Cuts Vote

Greece's parliament is set to vote on a series of new austerity measures in a bid to sort out the country's finances and secure another bailout.

Proposed by the prime minister George Papandreou 's socialist party, the measures include lowering the income tax threshold from 12,000 to 8,000 euros.

They also feature a tightening of means-tested benefits, 150,000 redundancies in the public sector and yet another clampdown on tax evasion.

Other proposals being voted on are the privatisation of some of Greece' ports, airports, banks, railways and energy companies, as well as the part-privatisation of the postal service.

A peaceful protest by about 20,000 people degenerated into violence as the measures were being debated on Tuesday.

Riot police fired volleys of tear gas and stun grenades to keep back several hundred hooded youths, who pelted them with thousands of chunks of ripped up paving stones and marble chipped from building facades and steps.

Hours of rioting outside Greece's parliament left 46 people injured, with 14 protesters arrested according to police.

The government's bill has enraged many ordinary Greeks who see it as unfair.

But Miranda Xafa, a leading Greek economist and former member of the International Monetary Fund's executive board, told Sky News there is no plan B.

She said: "Plan B is to default and that would be a disaster for Greece, the Eurozone and the global financial system.

"There really is no alternative, however painful the measures are."

The new austerity measures must be passed in a two-part vote on Wednesday and Thursday if Greece's international creditors are to release the next 12bn euro batch of the country's 110bn euro emergency funding.

Some deputies within the prime minister's party have voiced dissatisfaction with the measures, with two of them indicating they might vote against the government.

But the socialists hold a five-seat majority in the 300-member parliament, and the bills should muster the simple majority of 151 votes to pass.

In addition to seeking the next batch of bailout funds, Greece looks like it will need additional financial support.

Mr Papandreou has said a second bailout would be roughly the same size as the first and on better terms.

But the general consensus is that rolling over Greece's debts is not the solution to this crisis.

Greek politicians have narrowly voted to approve a critical set of debt-reduction measures, as violent protests continue in the streets of Athens.

The vote was close, with 155 MPs accepting the austerity package needed to secure bailout cash, and 138 MPs rejecting it.

Although the country's 48-hour strike has officially ended, the violence of the protests and their crippling effect has sparked fears of a widespread public defiance.

The vote for austerity has been welcomed in Brussels as the only option for a Greek economy still on the slide.

Greece needs nearly £4bn of the latest bailout instalment by July 15 to pay its most pressing debts.

Vassilis Sylaides, a trade unionist at Intracom Electronics, spoke to Socialist Worker from Syntagma Square in Athens today.

“We’ll fight back every single measure they passed today.

The feeling of the tens of thousands on the streets was that this not the end—it’s just the end of the beginning....Tomorrow [30th] we’ll have a meeting in Syntagma Square over what we have to do next, how to take the struggle forward.

We’ll not accept this law. We are strong and determined.”

The vote for austerity has been welcomed in Brussels as the only option for a Greek economy still on the slide.