So it appears that turkeys really do vote for Christmas.
Greek MPs have voted for an austerity package that makes George Osborne seem like Santa Claus.
The tax-free threshold will be lowered from €12,000 to €8000. In the UK it has been raised by £1000 to £7475.
The wages of civil servants will be cut by 30% and only 10% of jobs lost through natural wastage such as retirement will be replaced.
Taxes on fuel, alcohol and tobacco will go up and an interestingly named “solidarity levy” will be introduced.
Solidarity is not a word I would use to describe the reaction of your average Athenian. Thanks to their Government, every man, woman and child in Greece owes €31,000 towards a total Greek debt of €340 billion.
In voting through the austerity package by 155 votes to 138, Greek MPs may have put Greece on the road back to the black. But voters rarely reward prudence, and they are about to be stuffed, roasted and carved by the public at large.
Turkey anyone?
