We British tied Merkel’s hands many years ago – the Basic Law of Germany was agreed by the Allies after the 2nd world war and it guarantees refugee rights. Trouble is that decades of US/UK interfering with Middle East politics and support of despotic regimes has created a pool of potential refugees that numbers in the 10s of millions. The success of the EU (and the UK within the EU) has created a beacon for refugees. This was an inevitable outcome. The rise of anti-immigrant hate-groups within Germany was inevitable just as the anti-immigrant hate has fuelled Brexit. The UK must not give in to these hate groups and equally Germany must not let its extremists prevail. Winston Churchill saw a need for a United States of Europe and we British must work towards that goal.