Merkel is clearly in German election mode and wants to win the hearts and minds of her voters with tough rhetoric. She's also now found the ultimate bosom buddy in Macron regarding the European ideology. She is clearly enormously irritated by Trump's stance regarding climate change and the automotive industry (I think Trump has forgotten that most American cars are rubbish, that's why they buy German). She is also irritated by the UK stance regarding Brexit; with us saying we'll walk out if we don't like what we hear. She's simply hitting back and you can't blame her.

She has to take some responsibility to the UK deciding enough is enough regarding Europe as it was her invitation in 2015 that probably pushed the UK voters over the edge and that then led to our vote to leave the EU last year. She also has to be very careful how far she pushes Trump as he is a little unpredictable and is likely to pull out of NATO. The Americans make up the vast majority of NATO resources, so what will be the point of it in future if that happens. Would we then also leave? Whose troops would then man the eastern borders of Europe? As most of the other NATO nations do not spend 2% of their GDP on defence, it will almost certainly lead to a European Armed Services budget with a shared resource for the remaining 27, allowing them to all benefit from economies of scale. The drive for a federalist system throughout Europe is already taking its toll on many of the Southern European nations, Greece in particular.

I can only imagine that for decades the UK was a thorn in the side of many European nations, the larger ones in particular, so you would have thought that they would be pleased (behind closed doors at least) that we are leaving, but the migration of European citizens from the poorer areas will now be concentrated into fewer countries, so that may cause issues for them in future. There will also be the issue of the loss of funding from the EU budget as the UK was a net contributor; to maintain the same level of funding for the most deprived areas, the richer EU countries will have to increase their payments. It's also possible that many countries relied on the UK's power within the EU to "reign in" the excesses of federalism and ever increasing integration and will miss us from the voting table.

Merkel says the EU will have to go it alone and perhaps this is her opening gambit at the start of more rapid progress towards a European super-state, with all other countries, such as the UK and the US, pushed to the sidelines as being less important in their shared future. Is she sowing the seed of the idea to all her German voters and the politicians and people of all the 27 EU nations?