SPD says yes

The SPD meeting in Bonn this afternoon decided by 56 per cent to enter negotiations with the CDU and CSU to form a coalition government.

Andrea Nahles, a senior party member and an acting Government Minister, made an extraordinary appeal for the SPD to enter the negotiations. It was television at its best.

When the negotiations are concluded they will be brought back to the membership of the SPD, who will vote on the programme.

It might be April before there is a new government on the Spree.