Greek government faces confidence vote over spying row

Kyriakos Mitsotaki, pictured, was also accused by Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the leftist Syriza party, of replicating an ‘Orwellian dystopia’. Photograph: Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images

The leader of Greece’s main opposition party has tabled a motion of no confidence against the government, accusing the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, of orchestrating mass wiretaps of political friends and foes.

“For the past six months, Greek society has been witness to disclosures of an inconceivable number of phone taps, the deepest deviation from rule of law that the country has seen in its modern history,” said Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the leftist Syriza party, as he submitted the motion. “We have a historic duty to act.”