Is this the beginning of the end of European austerity?

After three rounds of voting, the Greek Government failed to secure the support needed to appoint a new President. This means that elections will be held on 25^th January.

The Greek media has already started a concerted campaign to secure the interests of the 1%. They are focussing on the negative reaction by financial markets to the possibility of an electoral win for the deeply held anti-austerity sentiment across Greece. They are constantly saying that a win for Syriza will lead to economic collapse – perhaps they have failed to notice that austerity has already achieved this.

The forthcoming Greek election will undoubtedly challenge the sinister and damaging logic of austerity. The politics of hope must win. We need to play our part in helping secure this by showing solidarity. We must also be ready to defend the people of Greece from further attacks by bankers and financial markets.

Frankly, it is completely astonishing how neoliberalism has almost completely captured the European political class. We badly need to uproot this malaise. We must consign the dominance of this failed ideology to where it belongs – the dustbin of history.

Hopefully, Greece will lead the way but it must become part of a common struggle across Europe. It is only through this that the deep ideological and electoral crisis which has engulfed the majority of Socialist/Social-Democratic parties across Europe can be beaten. The arrogance of those who say that there is no alternative must be confronted – the will of the people must prevail.

Labour also needs to learn lessons. Shifting away from failed neoliberal dogma must also involve ditching austerity in all its incarnations. Only then we will be able to start building the economy that so many ordinary people across Britain and Europe so badly crave.

Manuel Cortes is the General Secretary of the TSSA and President of the Greek Solidarity Campaign