Don't look back in anger on Brexit, German president tells UK

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LONDON - Britain and the EU must repair relations damaged by Brexit, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told UK MPs Thursday, drawing a parallel with the reunion of the famously warring Oasis brothers.

Speaking in the royal gallery on the second day of a three-day state visit, the first by a German head of state in 27 years, Steinmeier said after Brexit people were "disappointed and sometimes unable to understand the decision" and there was "a feeling of uncertainty".

But both sides had decided "not to stay stuck in these feelings", he said, speaking in English.

"Don't Look Back in Anger, as one of the most famous songs by Oasis puts it so well," he told MPs. "If you don't mind my saying so, I think that is typically British. Keep calm and carry on -- look ahead pragmatically, move on."

He returned to the metaphor at the end of speech, describing how the reunion between Liam and Noel Gallagher this year after 16 years apart and their sold-out Oasis tour created "the greatest pop event of the past decade".

"Cool Britannia is alive! Our relations may have changed, but my dear Britons, our love remains," he said.

"So let us look not to the past, but rather together to the future."

Closer ties

Steinmeier highlighted the Kensington Treaty signed between Germany and the UK in July, marking closer security and defence cooperation.

He also pointed to the first EU-UK summit since Brexit in May, which aimed to reduce trade barriers.

Concrete projects include a German-British electricity interconnector due in 2028 and plans for youth mobility agreements to ease obstacles for students, he said.

"Yes, Brexit has created obstacles," Steinmeier said. "We need to change this. And we are working on it."

The renewed focus on UK-European ties comes after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which sparked the continent's largest land war since World War II.

"We are seeing the resurgence of imperial ambitions, the attempt by destabilising forces to divide us and pit us against one another. And that is precisely why we must stand united," Steinmeier said, noting that the UK, Germany and France have worked closely together on Ukraine policy.

Steinmeier's state visit follows his British counterpart King Charles III's to Germany in March 2023, his first overseas trip as monarch and the first by a British monarch in over a decade.

On Wednesday, Charles hosted Steinmeier at a banquet at Windsor Castle, where both hailed their countries' deep ties.

The visit will continue on Friday in Coventry, which was heavily bombed in World War II, where both British and German air force personnel will participate in a remembrance ceremony.