Guardian | 8.20am: So what happened at last night's cabinet meeting? We know that it ran for seven hours (after starting late), finally finishing at 3am Greek time (1am GMT).
According to government spokesman Ilias Mossialos, government ministers expressed "total support for the initiatives taken by the prime minister." That doesn't exactly chime with the growing mood of opposition among the Pasok party yesterday.
George Papandreou's office has released a statement, showing the prime minister insisted that the Greek people must give their approval to the next stage of austerity:
The referendum will be a clear mandate and a clear message in and outside Greece on our European course and participation in the euro.
No one will be able to doubt Greece's course within the euro.
Only if you win, though, Prime Minister....
According to Associated Press, Papandreou also insisted that the rules of democracy must be observed:
We will not implement any program by force, but only with the consent of the Greek people.
This is our democratic tradition and we demand that it is also respected abroad.
8.00am: Good morning, and welcome to another day of drama in the European debt crisis.
We said yesterday that George Papandreou had a history weathering political crises. Well, the great survivor has done it again – after a marathon cabinet meeting, he has persuaded his cabinet that Greece should indeed hold a referendum on the eurozone rescue plan.
We'll be following all the developments from Greece, where the parliament is expected to start debating a confidence vote this afternoon.
World leaders are also heading to Cannes, ready for the G20 which begins on Thursday. Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and other key players are due to meet with Papandreou late tonight to discuss the situation.
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