THE FUTURE of the European Union rests on whether its leaders respect the Greek people’s rejection of further austerity, labour movement figures said last night. 

British activists celebrated the result of Sunday’s referendum on the troika’s punitive bailout proposals with a rally at the TUC’s Congress House in London. 

An overwhelming 61 per cent of voters heeded the Syriza government’s call to vote No to a VAT rise and pension cuts. 

But TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady told them: “Greece — indeed the whole of Europe — now stands at a crossroads. 

“And what happens in the coming days and weeks will shape our continent’s future generations to come.”

Ms O’Grady said “ideologically driven austerity” had meant cuts to wages and pensions, 25 per cent unemployment and collapsing public services. “Enough is enough,” she said.

“As even the International Monetary Fund now seems to recognise, Greece needs a fresh start.

“It was greed and corruption at the top that got Greece into this mess. Ordinary Greeks must not be made to pay the price.” 

Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn and Labour London mayoral candidate Diane Abbott also addressed the rally.

At the GMB leadership hustings last month, Mr Corbyn said he would not campaign for Britain to remain in an EU based on “free-market positioning.” And last night he called on EU leaders to change course, saying: “Democracy has spoken in Greece. The people must rule, not the financial markets.

“The democratically elected Syriza government must now be given the breathing space to build a stable and just economy in Greece.

“This is an opportunity too for the European Commission to come to its senses and embrace a Europe of solidarity and end the human suffering in Greece.”

Their calls came ahead of the first meeting of eurozone finance ministers since the referendum in Brussels today. RMT general secretary Mick Cash welcomed the rejection of their austerity demands, but warned that efforts to save the EU were misplaced. He said: “The idea that the EU is in any way pro-worker and pro-public services is a myth which needs to be exposed and challenged by the entire trade union movement.”

Labour shadow chancellor Chris Leslie said the EU faced “its most fundamental test for a generation” and called on George Osborne to “reassure British tourists whose travel arrangements may be affected by the turmoil in the Greek economy.”