How the world sees Greece
 The Voice of Russia | Greece to 'seal' border against Syrian refugees Southeast European Times Greece will add 1800 guards along its northern border with Turkey and put 26 floating barriers along the river that divides the countries in an attempt to keep a potential wave of refugees fleeing Syria out of the country, officials said. Greece has ... Greece spooked by Syrian refugees Greece to place more guards at Turkey border to deter refugees |
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 Atlanta Journal Constitution | Greece's Lenders Ask for More Details on Austerity Plan -Source Wall Street Journal ATHENS--Greece's international creditors have called on Athens to provide more details on its 11.5 billion euro ($14.14 billion) austerity plan needed to keep open funding lines to the country, a senior Greek government official said Thursday. In the ... Greece resumes debt talks with inspectors Greece resumes austerity talks with debt inspectors after coalition government ... Greece agrees €11.5bn spending cuts |
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Former Blair adviser who foresaw dangers from the European single currency
Derek Scott, who has died from cancer aged 65, was a former economic adviser to Tony Blair in Downing Street and a first-hand witness to the obstructive and challenging attitude displayed towards the then prime minister by Gordon Brown as chancellor. What made Scott's position unique was that more than 20 years earlier, he had been special adviser to Denis Healey when he was chancellor and witnessed his relationship with James Callaghan at No 10.
In his book Off Whitehall, published in 2004, a year after he left Downing Street, Scott wrote a chapter on Blair and Brown's explosive relationship, providing one of the most revealing accounts of the damaging schism at the centre of the Labour government. Describing his earlier experience, however, he wrote: "Callaghan and Healey generally got along well with each other and, as the latter's special adviser, my relationship with my opposite number at No 10 was one of genuine mutual trust and openness without in any way diluting our respective obligations to our political bosses."
The publication of the book was much criticised, since it came from someone who had left the political stage for a lucrative career in the City. It played into the hands of the media with a number of fruity new examples of the degree of dysfunction within the government, yet Scott's main aim had been to write about the politics and economics of the European Union, and to draw attention to the dangers of economic and monetary union and the single currency.
His problem was that he could not do this without exposing his insider's account of the interaction between Blair and Brown on such a significant issue. It is a cruel irony from which he would have gained no satisfaction that it was only in the last months of his life that Scott was proved profoundly correct in the warnings he offered of the dangers the Euro posed to the financial and political stability of Europe – with particular reference to the possible need for other member states to bail out Greece and Spain.
The episode is, in its way, characteristic of the man. Scott held forceful opinions that he did not keep to himself in the manner of a more subtle political strategist. He was not a tolerant person who was prepared to accept a political position with which he disagreed for the sake of his own future. Probably in consequence, he sacrificed his dearest ambition for a political career of his own as an MP.
He had perfect credentials for a potential Labour MP, having worked for a trade union after university and followed his first stint at the Treasury by working as economic adviser to Callaghan after Labour lost office in 1979. He had earlier spent four years on Kensington and Chelsea council from 1974, when he and I were elected as the two Labour members for Kelfield ward in deprived North Kensington.
He was intelligent, handsome, personable and unstinting in the time he was prepared to devote to politics. But the Labour party was increasingly riven by the political infighting of the period, and while Healey successfully persuaded Scott on one occasion not to leave Labour for the Social Democratic party, he eventually rejected this advice despite his respect and admiration for his former boss.
He fought Swindon for the SDP in 1983 and came a respectable third, but in doing so deprived the long-standing Labour MP David Stoddart of the seat, which went to the Tories. He made a second attempt in Swindon in 1987, but left the SDP when it merged with the Liberals, and by the early 1990s he was once again a Labour party member. His official rehabilitation was marked by a telephone call from Peter Mandelson in 1994 offering him the economic post, with Blair as the new opposition leader.
By his own account, Scott remained an outsider in Blair's entourage, however, and inevitably found many of his former Labour friendships difficult to maintain; nor did his continuing pursuit of a parliamentary seat prosper. In 1997 he lost the Pontefract selection that went to Yvette Cooper – with whose husband, Ed Balls, he then spent the next six years in direct confrontation.
Scott was the son of John, a jeweller from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, and his wife, Alice. He left school without A-levels to work in the family business but, realising he had made a mistake, resumed his education. He went to Liverpool University and subsequently took two master's degrees in economics at the London School of Economics and Birkbeck College, London. He was a football enthusiast, who supported Aston Villa and played for the Guardian team in the 1970s.
In 1985 he married the political journalist and broadcaster Elinor Goodman. They divorced in 2007. In 2010 he married Gisela Stuart, the Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, with whom he had worked increasingly closely on their shared antipathy to further European integration.
Gisela survives him.
• Derek John Scott, economist and political adviser, born 17 January 1947; died 1 August 2012
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Morning Market Roundup: Jobless Claims Up, Greece Back in Spotlight, United ... TheBlaze.com Greece: Greece's coalition government has resumed austerity negotiations with international debt inspectors, after narrowly avoiding a political crisis that officials said had threatened the country's future in the eurozone. Inspectors from the ... |
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Greek July Economic Sentiment Rose on New Government Bloomberg (Corrects to show IOBE foundation corrected its retail sector sentiment figure in last paragraph.) Greek economic sentiment improved in July after national elections in June led to the formation of a government under Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. An ... Greek Economic Sentiment Improves on New Coalition |
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Greece Resumes Debt Talks With Inspectors NPR ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's coalition government has resumed austerity negotiations with international debt inspectors, after narrowly avoiding a political crisis that officials said had threatened the country's future in the eurozone. Inspectors ... |
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 Atlanta Journal Constitution | Greece resumes debt talks with inspectors Atlanta Journal Constitution ATHENS, Greece — Greece's coalition government has resumed austerity negotiations with international debt inspectors, after narrowly avoiding a political crisis that officials said had threatened the country's future in the eurozone. International ... Greece's Leaders Agree on New Austerity Plan Greece agrees €11.5bn spending cuts Greece austerity cuts |
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Greece To Issue More T-Bills, Tap Bank Fund To Cover ECB Bond-Sources Wall Street Journal Greece plans to issue more Treasury bills this month and tap its bank recapitalization fund to pay a 3.2 billion euro ($4 billion) repayment to the European Central Bank and fund its financing needs until the end of September, two senior Greek ... |
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 BBC News | Samaras Secures Greek Budget Plan as Coalition Discord Grows San Francisco Chronicle 2 (Bloomberg) -- Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras overcame growing differences with his two coalition partners to secure 11.5 billion euros ($14.1 billion) of budget cuts and keep international rescue funds flowing. Samaras brokered the accord with ... 6-week-old Greek coalition government averts collapse over new austerity ... Greek leaders agree budget cuts |
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EU Welcomes Greece's Commitment to Structural Reforms Wall Street Journal BRUSSELS--The European Commission welcomed Thursday Greece's commitment to undertake structural reforms, saying the country's outline of 10 priorities is a sign of the government's intention to carry out an overhaul of the economy. "The pursuit of ... EU Commission welcomes Greek reform pledge, wants implementation |
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 San Francisco Chronicle | Greece To Issue More T-Bills, Tap Bank Rescue Fund To Cover ECB Bond ... Wall Street Journal Greece plans to issue more Treasury bills this month and tap its bank recapitalization fund to pay a 3.2 billion euro ($4 billion) repayment to the European Central Bank and fund its financing needs until the end of September, two senior Greek ... Lagarde says IMF stands by Greece, urges euro zone action IMF Head: We Stand by Greece IMF Chief Lagarde Praises Greece, Spain for Efforts |
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Pre Market Briefing, including 'Greek coalition leaders back budget cuts' Proactive Investors UK The two coalition partners of the conservative-led government of Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, have agreed to an 11.5 billion of budget cuts which are required as a requisite to qualify for further international rescue funds. S&P affirmed ... |
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Greek leaders agree on budget cuts, Italy says no to EU help Xinhua BRUSSELS, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Greek political leaders agreed Wednesday on further budget cuts demanded by foreign lenders in exchange for more aid, but Italy's prime minister stressed that his country does not need any help from its eurozone partners. |
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IMF Chief: Re Greece; 'The IMF Never Leaves The Table' ForexLive (blog) IMF Chief: Re Greece; 'The IMF Never Leaves The Table'. By Market News International || August 1, 2012 at 17:30 GMT. || 0 comments || Add comment. –Will Be Honest But Will Also Be Demanding With Greek Government –Global Econ Picture 'Bleak'; Does ... |
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 AFP | Greece's Leaders Agree on New Austerity Plan Wall Street Journal ATHENS—Greece's government on Wednesday agreed to take fresh austerity measures of €11.5 billion ($14.1 billion) for 2013 and 2014 after junior partners in the ruling coalition dropped demands to implement the steep cuts over a longer period, paving ... Greek coalition partners agree on spending cuts Greece approves another €11.5 bn spending cuts Greece agrees new spending cuts to keep bailout |
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IMF Head: We Stand by Greece Fox Business But with the IMF-EU program in Greece way off track and European officials already saying that the country will need further debt restructuring, questions are arising over whether IMF member countries will seek to change course on Greece. "The IMF ... |
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 Business Insider | Struggling euro nations jockey for central bank intervention Los Angeles Times Greek leaders reluctantly agreed Wednesday to slash an additional $14 billion in government spending over the next two years in an attempt to show creditors their intent to remain in the Eurozone. In Spain, another of the 17-nation monetary union's ... IMF Chief Lagarde Praises Greece, Spain for Efforts Greece - Nothing Has Changed: It's Not Over Yet! Estimate: Greek euro-exodus would cost Finland EUR 5.4 billion |
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