Merkel: I’ll pry UK’s banks from the City

ANGELA Merkel promised to pry business from the City of London after Brexit last night as she surrendered a huge stake in her political influence to form a German coalition government.

The deal makes the far-Right Alternative for Germany party, which was founded by Nazis, the opposition, after it came third in September’s elections.

The German Chancellor, who faced political ruin if talks failed after a record four-and-a-half-month period without a government, handed key ministries from her Christian democrat alliance (CDU/CSU) to the social democrats (SPD).

However, the deal still needs to be approved by SPD members.

To ease concerns that Berlin is driving an aggressive EU Brexit approach, a draft of the coalition agreement includes a vow to build a ‘trusting relationship’ with the UK after it leaves the bloc.

But the parties inserted a promise to capitalise on Brexit by boosting Germany’s finance sector. It stated: ‘In light of the upcoming withdrawal of the UK from the EU we are going to make Germany more attractive for financial institutions.’

It comes amid discussions about how the City – the EU’s biggest financial centre – will operate across the Continent after Brexit. EU negotiator Michel Barnier wants banks to lose the so-called financial passports that let them operate across borders without red tape.