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Brexit is irreversible and hopes for a U-turn are 'wishful thinking', says Angela Merkel

Ms Merkel has held her last ever meeting at a Brussels summit with David Cameron

Wednesday 29 June 2016 11:00 BST

Angela Merkel attends the second day of European Council meetings in Brussels (Getty)

Angela Merkel has said there is no way to reverse the UK’s decision to vote for Brexit, calling it “wishful thinking” to suggest there is any way Britain can stay in the EU.

The German Chancellor was speaking ahead of the second day of an EU summit, which will continue without David Cameron on Wednesday.

Ms Merkel held what will be her last ever meeting with the UK Prime Minister at a Brussels summit on Tuesday, but insisted it was not a time for either sadness or anger.

Pro-EU rally held in London

Describing the talks as “serious” but “friendly”, she called on the rest of Europe to take the opportunity in the coming days to move on with the situation it finds itself in.

Asked if she saw any possibility for Britain to U-turn on its EU decision, Ms Merkel said: “I want to say very clearly tonight that I see no way to reverse this.

“We all need to look at the reality of the situation. It is not the hour for wishful thinking.”

Early indications suggest many EU leaders appear keen to get Brexit over and done with now the UK has decided to leave.

6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

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1/66 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

More expensive foreign holidays

The first practical effect of a vote to Leave is that the pound will be worth less abroad, meaning foreign holidays will cost us more

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

No immediate change in immigration status

The Prime Minister will have to address other immediate concerns. He is likely to reassure nationals of other EU countries living in the UK that their status is unchanged. That is what the Leave campaign has said, so, even after the Brexit negotiations are complete, those who are already in the UK would be allowed to stay

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

Higher inflation

A lower pound means that imports would become more expensive. This is likely to mean the return of inflation – a phenomenon with which many of us are unfamiliar because prices have been stable for so long, rising at no more than about 2 per cent a year. The effect may probably not be particularly noticeable in the first few months. At first price rises would be confined to imported goods – food and clothes being the most obvious – but inflation has a tendency to spread and to gain its own momentum

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

Interest rates might rise

The trouble with inflation is that the Bank of England has a legal obligation to keep it as close to 2 per cent a year as possible. If a fall in the pound threatens to push prices up faster than this, the Bank will raise interest rates. This acts against inflation in three ways. First, it makes the pound more attractive, because deposits in pounds will earn higher interest. Second, it reduces demand by putting up the cost of borrowing, and especially by taking larger mortgage payments out of the economy. Third, it makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow to expand output

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

Did somebody say recession?

Mr Carney, the Treasury and a range of international economists have warned about this. Many Leave voters appear not to have believed them, or to think that they are exaggerating small, long-term effects. But there is no doubt that the Leave vote is a negative shock to the economy. This is because it changes expectations about the economy’s future performance. Even though Britain is not actually be leaving the EU for at least two years, companies and investors will start to move money out of Britain, or to scale back plans for expansion, because they are less confident about what would happen after 2018

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

And we wouldn’t even get our money back

All this will be happening while the Prime Minister, whoever he or she is, is negotiating the terms of our future access to the EU single market. In the meantime, our trade with the EU would be unaffected, except that companies elsewhere in the EU may be less interested in buying from us or selling to us, expecting tariff barriers to go up in two years’ time. Whoever the Chancellor is, he or she may feel the need to bring in a new Budget

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Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka said: "The EU must now demonstrate unity and stability - calmly and objectively dispense with the UK, focus on growth, employment, social solidarity and security."

Lithuania's president Dalia Grybauskaite said Brexit was "sad, (and a) challenge to all - no choice but to overcome".

Also on the agenda will be a meeting between SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels as she attempts to keep Scotland in the European Union.

The First Minister is also expected to meet European Parliament president Martin Schulz and Guy Verhofstadt, the former Belgian prime minister and leader of the Liberal group at the European Parliament.

It is understood European Council president Donald Tusk has no plans to meet Ms Sturgeon because he does not consider it to be the right time.

The meeting with Mr Schulz is expected to be the most high profile of the First Minster's meetings but Margaritis Schinas, chief spokesman for Mr Juncker, tweeted:

The First Minister's visit comes after MSPs voted to give her a "mandate" to hold discussions with EU institutions, as well as the UK Government and other devolved nations.

On Tuesday Mr Cameron sat at the oval EU summit table and called for the UK to be given the best possible conditions for its exit in the coming months.

But Ms Merkel said it was not up to Mr Cameron to “cherry-pick” the terms of the negotiations and agreed with other EU leaders that there would be no informal talks before Article 50 was triggered.

Earlier in the day, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker told a plenary session of the European Parliament that he “banned” any talks between EU officials and the UK government until that condition was met.

EU Council President Donald Tusk said: “Europe is ready to start the divorce process, even today.”

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