For now, the initiative has no party backing. Mr Henkel is joined by two former heads of the BDI, Germany’s equivalent of the CBI, and Hans-Werner Sinn, one of Germany’s leading economists. “The EU’s unwillingness to curtail the social inclusion principle for EU migrants, as demanded by Prime Minister Cameron, has contributed to the disastrous Brexit decision for Europe,” Prof Sinn said. “There is much to suggest that Cameron was right with his request.” Prof Sinn said benefits should be paid by EU citizens’ home countries even if they moved to another member state. “It wasn’t only Britain deciding to leave the EU, it was the EU which decided to leave Britain,” Mr Henkel said. “We need Britain as a counterweight to Juncker and Barnier, and the people who want a ’United States of Europe’. We don’t want that, we want an EU of sovereign nations.”
Seven German businessmen are committed to preventing Britain's exit from the EU. They have launched an initiative using the slogan: "Exit from Brexit: a new deal for Britain and the EU", and believe that Mr Henkel was right in his requests for autonomy over certain aspects of EU membership, such as immigration. "We want to offer Britain the right to stop people who have no jobs entering the country and entering its social welfare system". They want to encourage the German government to do more to stop Germany losing "its most valuable partner within the EU".