Greece on collision course with lenders as ESM freezes debt relief

European financing body says it will not honour accord after Greek PM announced pre-Christmas bonus for pensionersThe dispute between Greece and its creditors has turned more ugly after the European body financing the country’s €86bn (£72bn) bailout programme decided to freeze a deal on short-term debt relief measures.The prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, was taken by surprise on Wednesday when the European Stability Mechanism announced it would not honour an accord to ease the bu