Greece rejects Taoiseach’s personal appeal to toe line

Greece has rejected a personal plea from Taoiseach Enda Kenny to back down and follow Ireland’s austerity agenda as its radical prime minister Alexis Tsipras insisted he would put his people first, not creditors.

As crisis negotiations to try and avoid an explosive Greek exit from the eurozone broke down for the fourth time in eight days at a tense EU leaders summit in Brussels, Mr Tsipras continued to hold out against intense pressure to cut pensions.