Last-minute plea letter signed by MPs, senior figures from the industry and artists urged Brits to remain in EU.
Secretary-General of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer | Odd Andersen / AFP via Getty Images
The heads of Germany's main political parties plus leading figures from business, sport and the arts wrote an open letter to the U.K. imploring the country "from the bottom of our hearts" to reverse Brexit.
In the letter, published in the Times Friday, the "German friends" write that "without your great nation, this Continent would not be what it is today."
The signatories include conservative leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who succeeded Chancellor Angela Merkel as leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU) as well as her opposite number Andrea Nahles of the center-left SPD.
Also on the list are Tom Enders, the CEO of Airbus, Eric Schweitzer, president of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Reiner Hoffmann, president of the German Trade Union Confederation.
"After the horrors of the Second World War, Britain did not give up on us. It has welcomed Germany back as a sovereign nation and a European power," they wrote. "This we, as Germans, have not forgotten and we are grateful."
Am liebsten wäre uns, wenn die Briten in der EU bleiben würden. Entscheiden müssen sie das natürlich selbst, aber es ist @n_roettgen und mir ein Anliegen, das unseren Freunden auf der Insel noch einmal zu sagen - und wir haben dafür viele Unterstützer. #brexit #wewantyoutostay
"Britain has become part of who we are as Europeans," they wrote, adding, "We would miss the legendary British black humour and going to the pub after work hours to drink an ale. We would miss tea with milk and driving on the left-hand side of the road. And we would miss seeing the panto at Christmas."
"But more than anything else, we would miss the British people — our friends across the Channel," they wrote.
Other signatories included pianist Igor Levit; Jens Lehmann, former Arsenal and German national soccer team goalkeeper and Campino, lead vocalist with Die Toten Hosen.
https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-to-uk-we-will-miss-you/UK's Reply:
Brits to Germans: ‘We’re still friends’
The British letter is a response to one from Germany that had ‘touched many people.’
Gary Lineker | Jack Taylor/Getty Images
A group of British political figures and former England footballer Gary Lineker have written an open letter to Germany, saying British people would remain their "friends" after Brexit and the U.K. would still be an "outward-looking nation."
The letter, published in Die Welt Friday, is in response to a similar missive penned by German MPs and business leaders earlier this month lamenting Britain's decision to leave the EU.
The group — which includes Anne-Marie Trevelyan, a Conservative MP who campaigned to leave the EU — thanked the Germans for their "funny and touching" message, replying: “We still want to be friends. We love your beer, your football, some of us even like your food."
Lineker, who was in the England side that lost to Germany in the 1990 World Cup semifinal, famously quipped that "football is a simple game — 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.”
Others who signed the letter include peers Sayeeda Warsi and Stewart Wood, MPs Nicholas Soames, Tom Tugendhat and Emma Reynolds, and Tom Fletcher, a former foreign policy adviser to prime ministers David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.
"Given the challenges we face, we need to stand together to champion the values of tolerance and openness that you say are our hallmark,” the letter noted.
"We all know that openness and diversity are British values and we are grateful that you can see through the noise to the substance, that the defining moment for the U.K. in the 21st century will not be the referendum itself, but how we respond with greater purpose, drive, solidarity and vision," the letter went on.
"Your letter has reminded us that however we voted on Brexit we must be clearer that we are not about to retreat from our global responsibilities. Brits are an outward-looking nation," the group wrote.
"Whatever the mechanics and sub-clauses of our future relationship, the tone of the text is unchanged: we are still friends, and very much on the same side."
https://www.politico.eu/article/brits-to-germans-were-still-friends/Also:
Merkel urges EU and UK to find Brexit compromise (21 January 2019)
Germany to UK: We will miss you, please stay (24 January 2019)
With creativity, we can find Northern Ireland solution, Merkel says (4 February 2019)
Merkel says 'still time' to find Brexit solution (05 February 2019)
