ON JULY 5th Greeks appeared to signal, through an overwhelming referendum result, that the reform demands made by Europe were too onerous to accept. Less than a week later, on July 11th, the Greek parliament passed a bill—with a majority of 251 out of 300 votes—giving the government of prime minister Alexis Tsipras authorisation to negotiate a bail-out deal with creditors, in light of a proposal that includes conditions harsher than those rejected at the referendum. The government did not need parliamentary authorisation for this, but now that it has it, the Greek political leadership appears to present an unusually united front. This extraordinary about face may not end up achieving anything; the European leaders now meeting in Brussels may decide that Greece cannot be trusted and must go. The reversal in the Greek stance is nonetheless remarkable. How did Mr Tsipras go from imploring Greeks to vote down a package of reforms proposed by the creditors, which 62% of voters dutifully did, to begging the Greek parliament to sign up to an even harsher package less than a week later, and what consequences will the U-turn have?
