Angela Merkel's long goodbye

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany for 16 years, announced her retirement in 2018. Talk about a long goodbye, she is still around and won't actually leave her offica for the last time until next week. Bless her, I wonder if even then she will remember to pack up her things and leave on time. At least she won't shed tears of bitterness and betrayal like the other Iron Lady did, Maggie Thatcher, after she had been politically stabbed in the back by her so-called cabinet colleagues. Maggie was photographed with eyes filled with tears as she was limousined out of Downing Street on her last day as prime minister - November 28 1990. Merkel on the other hand has been planning her last day as chancellor for so long that it's beginning to feel she will never leave. But her successor has already shown what he is made of and has had ample time to try on Merkel's shoes. By the sound of it dear old Angela is going to have some fun when she leaves next week. She has chosen a strange mix of music which she wants played on her last day. For her military farewell ceremony on Thursday she has chosen three tunes, one of which is a punk rock song called You Forgot the Colour Film. Weird! Anyway, she will go out with a musical bang. And the Olaf Scholz era will begin.