For some reason, the story of Syriza’s first few days in office doesn’t seem to have reached the front pages of the British media. Naturally, the red tops are far more interested in repeating the lie that Labour wants to do a coalition deal with former IRA members in the event of a hung parliament, or telling us how much Ed Miliband’s jewish father hated Britain, despite fighting for it in World War Two. But what is happening in Greece is worth reporting.
The political and, dare I say it, media agenda has been that Syriza are a dangerous bunch of lefties. Germany’s bully in chief Angela Merkel has helped preside over Greece’s miserable austerity and has been one of the first politicians to tell them to behave themselves or else. Similarly, Gideon ‘Call me George’ Osborne has been calling on the Greek PM Alexis Tsipras to be ‘responsible’. And that’s how it has been reported, unquestioningly, and especially by the BBC which seems to have given up all pretence of impartiality.
But already, the Greek government has delivered on parts of its manifesto. Just look at this for starters:
Privatisation schemes have been suspended, including that of the entire port of Pireaus
The minimum wage has been reintroduced
Fees for prescriptions and hospital visits have been axed
Collective work agreements have been reinstated
Public sector workers who were laid off have been reinstated
Greek citizenship has been granted to migrant children born and raised in Greece
And all this since Sunday.
The truth of the political concerns and the significant press blackout can be explained very simply: the power base of the EU in general and its big players, including the UK, are bricking it. And they are bricking it because they wonder if the same thing might happen elsewhere in Europe. Britain, or at least England and Wales, has retained a stiff upper lip through the Cameron/Clegg austerity years and there is no one yet in sight who threatens upsetting the status quo. But there’s still time. Not some wacky Socialist Party outfit, for sure, but surely the Labour Party must seek to loosen the austerity strings in order to give ordinary people a break?
Make no mistake, if the Tories finally win their first General Election since 1992 (don’t forget the current Tory regime has been totally enabled by the useful idiots of the Liberal Democrats, who have proved to be neither), then austerity will feel like the old days as the Tories set to return the state to 1930s levels. In that event, our country mighty begin to resemble what Greece has been going through. And it may need that before people finally rise up.
Syriza have made a good start, they have hit the ground running. There will be scare stories from the Merkels and Camerons of this world, threatening their debt worthiness, criticising them for fulfilling their election promises, but the early indications are that Tsipras is made of sterner stuff.
For the sake of all of us, I hope Syriza see this through. They have a mandate and I firmly believe they are right and what is right for them could be right for us, too.
