Alexis Tsipras: Mr Reasonable seizes the initiative from Project Fear

Greek prime minister understands that the next few days are a matter of winning hearts and minds and that he needs to rally support for a no vote

Alexis Tsipras chose his moment well. What better way to shift attention from the fact that Greece was about to miss a debt payment to the International Monetary Fund and lose its financial lifeline from its creditors than to come up with a new crisis-resolution plan?

It little mattered that the new blueprint from Athens had a shelf life of only a couple of hours before Angela Merkel said there could be no fresh negotiations until after Greece's referendum on Sunday.

Related: Greece debt crisis: Thousands of Yes supporters protest, as Tsipras seeks new bailout - live updates