Merkel’s Legacy is in Tatters

Azeem Ibrahim OBE | 30th June 2026 | Comment, International
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images

How Angela Merkel Weakened the West and Handed Putin and Xi Leverage

A confident and beaming Merkel once encouraged the German people to welcome Syrians and others fleeing war in the Middle East and Africa. “Wir schaffen das”, she cheered, we can do it! A proud German population was, on the whole, behind her humanitarian mission, especially at a time when German industry was on the lookout for as many fresh workers as it could get. In late August 2015, Germany suspended the EU’s Dublin rules for Syrians, failed to close the Balkan route, and signalled that those who reached German soil could claim asylum there. Within months, the numbers surged: Germany ultimately registered about 890,000 arrivals that year, having first tallied roughly 1.1 million entries before correcting for double counts. The humanitarian intent was sincere.  Ten years later, the system that had underpinned freedom of movement is now hedged with emergency measures. Multiple Schengen states have re-introduced internal border checks, citing irregular migration and security threats; G...

Subscribe to The Mace

Join the member community shaping British politics and stay ahead of what's really happening in the world of politics and public affairs, with expert analysis, breaking news, and insider insights from Westminster and Brussels. The Mace is the leading news source and resource for the government affairs industry, offering required reading and lobby intelligence for professionals.

To see what you are missing out on by not subscribing to The Mace, click here to download our full membership info-pack. This includes having no paywall on op-ed content or profiles/interviews, allowing professional profiles to be read with maximum impact and visibility by government, special advisers, MPs, peers, civil servants, and policy and political decision-makers.



The government wants to make it harder for businesses to say no to WFH – what does this mean for young people?

Lucy Carrier-Pilkington | September 17, 2026

The new government protocol raises concerns about whether young people are getting the necessary exposure they need in their early careers 

The existential threat AI poses for the free press

Lucy Carrier-Pilkington | September 16, 2026

What happens when the technology that could one day threaten humanity begins to destroy the institution responsible for warning us about it?

Burnham went to Kyiv. Now comes the harder journey to Washington

Andriy Dovbenko | September 16, 2026

The Prime Minister’s first foreign visit was a welcome act of solidarity. But for Ukraine, British friendship will be judged by whether it can help unlock the air

Death of the British staycation

Mace Magazine | September 15, 2026

The government's new 5% tourism tax is the last thing the UK's hospitality sector needs, says William Cash

Why AfD’s election win in Saxony-Anhalt has upended the political consensus in Germany

James Jeffrey | September 14, 2026

After walking through Saxony, James Jeffrey is not surprised by the AfD’s dramatic election win in Germany.

The exodus of the super-wealthy: Who pays the price?  

Lucy Carrier-Pilkington | September 8, 2026

As speculation mounts over further tax rises, Britain’s ultra-rich investors and job creators are choosing to take their wealth elsewhere.

The Economic Paradox: Can Britain Afford to Penalise Parenthood?

Robert Richardson | September 8, 2026

In an exclusive op-ed for Mace, hospitality industry leader Robert Richardson sets out why the sector must do more to become accessible to young families.

The Politics of Power 

Simon Francis | September 7, 2026

End Fuel Poverty Coalition coordinator Simon Francis examines the four stories politicians hear about electricity and gas, and argues that the fight over which story shapes the agenda

A “little local difficulty” – Gawain Towler’s Reform Conference Diary

Mace Magazine | September 5, 2026

Seasoned Farage aide-de-camp Gawain Towler reflects on Reform's first ever Business Day at the NEC - and what it's like when a media grenade goes off during the

Farmers have suffered enough this summer — it’s time the government got on side

John Cooper | August 27, 2026

Britain’s farmers have battled repeated heatwaves and droughts, but MP John Cooper says the government’s Family Farm Tax is piling further pressure on an industry that desperately needs