TOP German trade union official Reiner Hoffmann urged the Social Democrats (SDP) yesterday to re-enter a coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU).

Mr Hoffman, the head of the German Trade Union Confederation, told the Tagesspiegel newspaper that it would be “a big mistake if the SDP refused to accept responsibility in this situation.”

“The SDP now has the opportunity to enforce worker-friendly policies,” Mr Hoffman claimed.