The red wine flowed and phone numbers were exchanged as members of Angela Merkel’s new top team bonded into the small hours. The first cabinet awayday of the new government ended in a drinking session that went on until almost 4am, at least for some of the younger participants, in the relaxed surroundings of Schloss Meserberg, the Chancellor’s retreat 40 miles north of Berlin. Mrs Merkel, 63, seemed to enjoy her break earlier this week, getting away from a capital gripped by intense levels of political intrigue, plotting and positioning. It is an open secret that this fourth term will be her last, a fact that has created a strangely febrile atmosphere within her cabinet made up of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and…

Source: The Times April 12, 2018 15:56 UTC