Byron will bring freedom with years of acute misery

MANY people think that by voting No, the Greeks have slit their throats. But they defied expectations and turned the tables on the creditors.

There is no answer to the 61 per cent-39 per cent referendum score. The margin is much larger than anyone expected. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Yanis Varoufakis, the finance minister who has now resigned, played a weak hand superbly. And they won.

Syriza has done something that has not happened in Europe for many years. A left-wing party has won an election and a referendum on a left-progressive platform. It has defied Europe's conservatives. This will inspire parties in Italy and Spain to flex their muscles. The French Socialists may rediscover their courage.