Angela Merkel to address Johnson’s cabinet in final UK trip as German chancellor
Angela Merkel will become the first foreign leader in 24 years to address a British cabinet tomorrow in her last trip to the UK as German chancellor.
Merkel and Boris Johnson will also agree to set up an annual meeting between the UK and German cabinets – the first arrangement of its kind for the British government.
The trip will be Merkel’s 22nd to the UK since she became German chancellor in 2005.
She will step down from her role at the next German election in September.
Number 10 said tonight that the UK will create a new annual £10,000 prize in her honour for a UK or Germany-based female scientist “who has excelled in the field of astrophysics”.
Johnson and Merkel will also agree to begin a “UK-German Cultural Dialogue” that will “meet annually to bring together cultural figures from both our countries and create new opportunities for talented young people”.
“The UK and Germany have a steadfast friendship and a shared outlook on many issues,” Johnson said.
“Our scientists, innovators and industrialists work together every day to make the world a better place. Over the 16 years of chancellor Merkel’s tenure the UK-Germany relationship has been re-energised and re-invigorated for a new era.
“And the new joint ventures we will agree today will leave a legacy that will last for generations.”
It comes after months of tensions between Johnson and EU leaders, including Merkel, over post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland.
The recent G7 summit in Cornwall was largely overshadowed by EU leaders and Johnson trading barbs over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Merkel has also called in the past week for European countries to turn away UK holidaymakers in order to keep the Delta variant out of the rest of the continent.