HIS roots are in Govanhill, he is tipped as a future Chancellor of Germany and he is heartbroken Britain has voted to leave the European Union.

David McAllister, a German Christian Democrat politician, who is close to Angela Merkel, said Britain’s standing in the world has fallen overnight.

He said with the London Olympics then Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Britain was the “coolest country in the world”. Now he said it is “one big mess”.

Mr McAllister, 45, was born and raised in Germany when his Glaswegian father was in the British Army, stationed in Berlin during the Cold war.

He speaks English with a Scottish accent and visits extended family in the city every year.

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Before he was an MEP he was Minister President of Lower Saxony (Prime Minister) and was the hot tip to take over from Angela Merkel as leader of the most powerful country in Europe and one of the most influential positions in the world.

He said he was “heartbroken” at the vote to leave the EU and is angry at the leave campaign leaders for their behaviour during and after the referendum.

Mr McAllister, whose dad, James, grew up in Ardbeg Street in Govanhill, before joining the army, considers himself German and Scottish and holds a British Passport.

Speaking to Evening Times in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Mr McAllister said others can’t believe what is happening in the UK.

He said: “In 2012 the Olympics were in London. Great Britain was the coolest country on earth.

“The whole world fell in love with Great Britain that year the fantastic opening and closing show in London, Boris stuck on the wire, it was just fantastic.

“Then 2014, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, not so much interest for Germans but still for the English speaking world, wonderful.

“Then 2016 and the whole country is in a mess. Good god, people in Germany just are saying ‘Oh my God what happened’. And they did it themselves.”

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He said he still has a strong emotional attachment to Scotland, and the result has hit him hard and he is scathing about Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Nigel Farage.

He said: “I’m just so sad. I felt heartbroken on the Friday night.

“I’m not putting the blame on the people who voted to leave but I do blame the leave campaigners, scaremongering people, telling lies and personal attacks.

“Now they’ve just created this awful mess and they hey are running away from their responsibilities.

“Shakespeare couldn’t have invented this better but It’s not fiction, it’s so sad.”

Mr McAllister said he was struck by the contrast between the leave leaders, David Cameron and Nicola Sturgeon whose visit to Brussels he said was a “clever move”.

He said: “Cameron resigned, Boris played cricket, Gove was gone and there the only one who was actually doing something was Nicola Sturgeon.”

On the matter of Scotland staying in Europe he was cautious and said it was for politicians in Edinburgh and London and for the people of Scotland.

He said what has happened is a leap in the dark adding: “Would it be possible hat a member state leaves and a part remains. Is that possible probably not, but I don’t know if it’s possible legally.”

He said it is reverse of Greenland out while Denmark is in and he said he doesn’t know if it is possible the other way round.

Glasgow Times:

PEOPLE in Glasgow who were asked during the 2014 referendum their views on independence were totally unaware they were speaking to one Germany’s most influential men.

Mr McAllister, a close ally of Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was touring the city gauging the public mood.

He said: “In 2014 I went to Scotland a few days before the referendum on my own and just spoke to people.

“I went to Glasgow and Edinburgh travelled on trains and buses and said ‘I’m from Germany what about this referendum, yes or no?’ and I got people’s reactions.”

He travelled to visit his father’s childhood home, and the street still exists today and he noted the demographic changes.

He said: “I went to where my dad grew up. I found the street, Ardbeg Street, near Hampden Park. I noticed there’s more eastern Europeans there, Poles and Lithuanians.”

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He wants to keep out of the independence question but said he is asked about it often because of his Scottish roots.

He said: “I tell people I know Angus Robertson, Ruth Davidson and Nicola Sturgeon. I know the Scottish MEPs here but I’m completely neutral.

“If I can do something in general for Scotland I will because we are all Scottish, but I’m not getting dragged into it.”

“The only colleague I find a bit strange her is the Ukip guy.”

“Have you met him?” he asked.