Leaders: Greek tragedy may fan the political flames across Europe

AFTER a renewed outbreak of financial turbulence across the eurozone, news of a snap election in Greece carries a worrying implication that such turbulence is unlikely to end soon, and indeed may well intensify in the weeks ahead.

The decision of the Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos to call elections on 6 May could bring a period of unpopular technocratic government to an end. But in doing so it raises the prospect of an intense political dogfight, potentially resulting in gridlock which may only add to deep popular frustration over the fate that has befallen his country. Latest polls show that the two parties that have dominated Greek politics for almost 40 years – Pasok and New Democracy – have a combined support of just a third of voters.

Mr Papademos has reaped a bitter political harvest for steering the country through a catastrophic debt crisis. His chief achievement was to secure for Greece the next tranche of a €110 billion (£91bn) bail-out from the European Union and to ratify a second bail-out worth €130bn. But the price for these bail-outs has been colossal, forcing ever more severe government spending reductions, massive public sector redundancies and cutbacks in public salaries and welfare payments – and all this in the face of violent public protests and strikes.

Greece is now trapped in a world beyond the ability or willingness of conventional politics to address. The means of immediate fiscal survival have come at a self-destructive political price. Maintaining membership of the eurozone has locked the economy in a downward spiral. Denied the freedom to allow its currency to fall and thus improve prospects for goods and services in world markets, the Greek government has been forced into ever more draconian austerity measures which work to deepen recession and unemployment. There has been barely any room for compromise or amendment: politics is as good as suspended.

The bail-out terms and conditions make clear that the austerity programme continues so far into the future that few believe it can be sustained without triggering a social explosion.

Voters are liable to seize on the snap election as a means to express anger and frustration over what are widely regarded as humiliating terms forced on them by the eurozone’s economically strongest member: Germany. Thus, to deep discontent over domestic conditions is added an external agent to blame: near perfect conditions for a charismatic demagogue to lead a revolt against the bail-out regime.

What makes this parlous situation even more dangerous is the economic predicament of Spain and Portugal, also deeply embroiled in sovereign debt crises and wrestling with similar austerity programmes. A revolt by Greek voters could light similar fires in the tinder-dry conditions elsewhere in the eurozone. In such an outcome, political leaders across the single currency area and not just Greece, will be directly in the line of fire.

Intangible cost of capital’s trams also rising

Edinburgh residents have long passed the point of hope that the ill-fated trams project would come in at, or even by some miracle, below whatever the city council has proffered as “the final cost”. Indeed, they have long suspected that the project has passed a point of no return and that it is propelled to some inevitable – and inevitably horrific – financial conclusion.

It is a state of affairs that would compel many to a posture of “eyes wide shut” were it not for the daily chaos and upheaval that confronts them in any journey close to St Andrew Square or Haymarket.

Indeed, among the city’s taxi drivers, any passenger request to be taken to an address near the Haymarket area provokes an involuntary shudder and a forlorn hope that the roads open for traffic on one day may still be open on another.

Looking at the massive work still to be completed, a state of prolonged disruption stretches to the far horizon. It is hard to believe this project was embarked upon with such innocence of what it would involve, how much it would cost and how long it would take. The revised estimate of the overall cost at some £700 million is now beginning to look behind the pace.

But it is the overall cost – in terms of business disruption, traveller aggravation and visitor deterrence – that is far greater than the totality of payments to the contractors and which will damage the city.

And the longer the disruption in the centre of Edinburgh continues, the greater the damage to the city’s reputation and to its appeal as a great European destination city.

Premier away fixtures just moved further away

Wanted urgently: visitor guide to Dingwall. Must comprise pedestrian guide to football ground, pub and restaurant guide, hotel accommodation for unplanned mass stay-overs and details of long distance transport to and from the town. Must also feature taxi facilities to bear stranded fans back to Central Belt.

Dingwall is the home of the Scottish Premier League’s newest entrant, Ross County. The club’s passage was secured when Queen of the South held challengers Dundee to a draw, and “Staggies” manager Derek Adams and his players are to be warmly congratulated for their well-earned promotion. Prior to 1994-95 Ross County was playing in the Highland League.

The club has risen through all three divisions of the Scottish Football League, reaching, en route, the Scottish Cup final in 2010.

Promotion will bring a financial transformation for the club as it takes on top-drawer teams such as Celtic and Rangers. But the prospect of having to travel to Dingwall for fixtures does not exactly offer Rangers a way out of its dire financial troubles.

And it may prove a daunting challenge for fans of Glasgow and Edinburgh teams who now have to compute the logistics – and costs – of a long return journey to Dingwall, assuming, that is, that they all return. Some may choose to settle if the journey back looks too exhausting.