PM George Papandreou announcing the bad news on one of Greece's 1,200 islands...PASOK (Socialist party) PM Papandreou describing the Greek economy as a sinking ship, formally requested an international bailout on Friday, an unprecedented step that will test the bonds of the European Union. In a nationally televised address, PM George Papandreou said two waves of austerity measures introduced by the government over the past few months had failed to convince the markets that Greece would be able to manage its debt crisis. In the meantime public sector unions have called for more general strikes. Public sector employees have already been hit with two pay cuts. Public sector pensions are the next target. Is this a waring for the rest of Europe? Is the Greek economy the first within the Eurozone to be hit and would Portugal, Spain and Ireland be following soon? The talk within the 300,000 strong Greek community in London is that Papandreou has inherited a major problem mismanaged by the previous Conservative (ND) government and much more needs to be done to deal with the historical issue of uncollected taxes. Greece has not got a PAYE system and the state instead relies on individuals submitting tax returns at the end of each year. It is estimated that more than 30% of all revenue is lost because of that.
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