Reuters
Frank-Walter Steinmeier referenced the Manchester band in an address in Parliament on Thursday
Germany’s president has drawn a parallel between his country’s ties with the UK post-Brexit to the recent reunion of the famously feuding Oasis brothers.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier told MPs and peers that after the UK split from the EU there was disappointment and uncertainty – but that both sides had decided “not to stay stuck in these feelings”.
“Don’t Look Back in Anger, as one of the most famous songs by Oasis puts it so well,” he said during the visit to Parliament on the second day of his state visit.
He will later meet German footballers playing in the Premier League and visit the V&A Museum’s David Bowie Centre, in a nod to the musician’s strong ties to Berlin.
He began his visit – the first by a German leader in 27 years – on Wednesday with a ceremonial reception by King Charles and Queen Camilla and a star-studded festive banquet at Windsor Castle.
He used remarks at this event and his trip to Parliament to stress the improving relations between his nation and the UK since Brexit in 2020.
“I think that is typically British, keep calm and carry on – look ahead pragmatically, move on,” Steinmeier said in the House of Parliament’s Royal Gallery on Thursday afternoon.
He later returned to the riff on Oasis at the end of his speech, remarking on the band’s sell-out reunion tour after 16 years of acrimony between frontman Liam Gallagher and his guitarist brother Noel.
“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.”
Early on Thursday, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, his wife Elke Budenbender and King Charles were shown Queen Victoria’s sleigh
The president then said farewell to the King and Queen before travelling onwards to London
Earlier in the day, Steinmeier and his wife Elke Budenbender left Windsor Castle for London – though not before being shown Queen Victoria’s winter sleigh, designed by her German-born husband Prince Albert in 1842, and attending a charity reception.
They later visited Westminster Abbey and laid a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior, which symbolises all those who died serving in World War One, particularly those who were not buried.
The final day of his state visit on Friday will see Steinmeier visit the ruins of Coventry Cathedral, bombed during World War Two, in a symbolic gesture of reconciliation.
This mirrors a visit to Hamburg during the UK state visit to Germany, when King Charles laid a wreath remembering the civilian casualties of wartime Allied bombing raids.
He will also receive an honorary degree from Oxford University, on a trip in which he will learn about medical research at the university.
