Why a smooth Brexit is in the interests of Germany as much as the UK

Germany is Britain's largest source of imports and enjoys a substantial trade surplus on UK trade

There is a general perception in the UK that the remaining EU states, and Germany especially, would like to punish Britain for withdrawing from the European Union. This would mean Britain out in the cold, no trade deal, and potentially a fine to make up for lost payments.

The problem here is that it is generally assumed that countries have unified positions, shared by the governments and populations, with no internal differences of significance. In this vein we find allusion to the “German” or “French” position, as if these were fixed and unlikely to change.

I recently discovered first