German Chancellor Angela Merkel has issued a chilling warning to Britain, warning that Germany will punish citizens if the UK government puts an end to free movement after Brexit.
Following Prime Minister Theresa May’s pledge to impose tighter immigration controls post-Brexit in 2019, Mrs Merkel hit back at her British counterpart, warning her against taking control of the UK border.
In a sinister speech at the L20 trade union summit in Germany, Merkel said: “If the British government ends the free movement of people, that will have its price. That’s not malice.”
“But they cannot say there will be an upper limit of 100,000 or 200,000 EU citizens, no more – this will not work.”
Express.co.uk reports: The Prime Minister recently attacked Brussels’ stance on Brexit, claiming some Eurocrats want the upcoming divorce talks to fail.
Speaking last month, she warned: “There are some in Brussels who do not want these talks to succeed, who do not want Britain to prosper.”
Mrs May will unveil her post-Brexit immigration policy when the Tory election manifesto is released tomorrow.
Earlier this week Jeremy Corbyn vowed to impose a system of “managed migration” if elected to Downing Street.
The Labour leader added: “Clearly the free movement ends when we leave the European Union.”
Meanwhile the Liberal Democrat manifesto vows to guarantee the rights of EU migrants living in the UK after Brexit.
The document, released today, also criticises “the abuse of refugees” and “toxic rhetoric on immigration and about immigrants themselves”.
It states: “We will not let campaigners for a hard Brexit pretend that racism and discrimination are a kind of patriotism.”
Sean Adl-Tabatabai