Would the SPD Candidate Be an Ally for Labour?

 Some Labour front benchers have spoken warmly about Olaf Scholz,the German politician who  has now been chosen as the SPD candidate for chancellor in the elections next year.

I am surprised given the gulf that exists between the policies which the SPD have supported in the coalition government in Germany. Mr Scholz himself is a fiscal hawk of a kind which is almost extinct in Britain.

Fearful that Labour might be tempted to follow the German example, I wrote this piece for Labour List:

Who is Olaf Scholz – and can Labour look to the SPD candidate as an ally?

The common perception of Germany is of a country with a strong economy. The costs of its trade surplus and its impact on other European countries is too little known. I try here to explain the chasm between the low-wage, low-investment approach of the SPD and Labour's alternative.