Angela Merkel's protégé Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who now leads the chancellor's CDU party, signed a joint letter calling on the UK to reconsider.

"Britons should know: from the bottom of our hearts, we want them to stay." / The woman poised to replace Angela Merkel as Germany’s next chancellor has made a last-minute plea to the UK to remain in the EU, saying Britain is “part of who were are as Europeans”.