German industry warns UK not to expect help in Brexit negotiations

Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said that even if German business did agitate for a good deal for Britain, there was little evidence Merkel would listen. “Many of the key policy-makers in Germany do not care what the business lobbies say,” he said. “They care about the principles. One of their principles is that the single market is indivisible. Another is that the British must be seen to pay a price for Brexit, doing less well outside the EU than in it.”