Greek Prime Minister in showdown with his MPs as Parliament votes on Euro deal

Greece faces another moment of truth today as the deadline looms for passing harsh austerity measures through parliament.

Prime minister Alexis Tsipras is struggling to convince MPs to back key reforms demanded by other eurozone states in return for a bailout.

A major rebellion within his Syriza party and coalition partners is expected to leave Mr Tsipras relying on opposition votes.

Failure to get the proposals - including VAT increases and pension curbs - through parliament could see Greece go bust within days and potentially exit the currency union.

Last night Mr Tsipras appeared on television to tell the Greek people he did not "believe" in the deal that was being imposed on them.

But he stressed it did offer a longer-term framework for stabilising the country than the plan tabled previously, providing up to 86 billion euros (£61 billion) of financing over three years.

The premier did not seek to hide the fact that no debt will be written off - although it could be rescheduled over a longer period.

"I am fully assuming my responsibilities, for mistakes and for oversights, and for the responsibility of signing a text that I do not believe in, but that I am obliged to implement," he said.

"The hard truth is this one-way street for Greece was imposed on us."

The UK Foreign Office has warned of protests around the parliamentary vote, and public sector unions have called a strike.

The details of a short-term loan of several billion euros to keep the Greek economy afloat are still being hammered out, with Chancellor George Osborne dismissing the idea that the money could come out of the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM).

A leaked report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also raised concerns that the new bailout will not solve Greece's problems, and its debts could rise further to 200% of GDP.