ANGELA Merkel has said she hopes Britain will stay in the EU "for the benefit of all of us".
The German chancellor said while it was up to UK voters to decide whether or not to leave or stay in the EU, she pointed out how member states achieved better results in negotiations than those nations, which were “outside the room”.
In response, leading Leave campaigner, the Labour MP Kate Hoey told the BBC: "It is in Germany's interests for the UK to stay in; that doesn't mean that it is in the UK's interests."
At a news conference with Nato General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg in Berlin, Mrs Merkel said: "Obviously, it is up to the citizens of the UK themselves how they wish to vote on the upcoming referendum. I've said repeatedly before that I personally would hope and wish for the UK to stay part and parcel of the EU."
Noting how Germany had worked well with the UK, particularly on new rules for the EU, the German leader said: "We have to develop those together with the UK and whenever we negotiate that, you can much better have an influence on the debate when you sit at the bargaining table and you can give input to those negotiations and the result will then invariably be better rather than being outside of the room."
Mrs Merkel stressed the importance of the single market and said countries outside the EU would “never get a really good result in negotiations".
She added: "It would not only be in our interest but it could also be in the interest of Britain when it can bring its whole political weight to the negotiating table as part and parcel of the EU."
Ms Hoey said the German chancellor would be "well-advised to stay out of what is a very, very important vote for British democracy" but claimed her intervention would not affect anyone’s vote.
The London MP added: "We can do extremely well outside the European Union; we don't need to be in the single market, other countries trade with the European Union and are not in the single market. We are the fifth largest economy, we can look outwards."
But Sir Nigel Sheinwald, former British Ambassador to the US and former British Permanent Representative to the EU, said: “Yet another major ally has said that Britain is stronger, safer and better off in Europe.
“Leave campaigners have repeatedly cited Germany as evidence of how easy it would be to renegotiate a trade deal with the EU but this strikes a hammer blow to that argument.”
He added: “If Britain leaves the EU single market, we will lose jobs, trade and investment. Britain is stronger and better off as part of Europe, while leaving would be a leap in the dark that would reduce our influence and make families worse off”.
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