Brexit: High-profile Germans plead with UK to stay in EU

The letter, published in the Times, is signed by 31 people, including the leader of the Christian Democratic Union - and likely successor to Angela Merkel - Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. 

They cited post-work pints and pantomime as beloved British habits.

But the UK's role in post-war Europe is the focus of the signatories calling for Britain to stay.

"Without your great nation, this Continent would not be what it is today," they wrote. 

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The letter - also signed by the chief executive of Airbus, Thomas Enders, and punk singer Campino - said the UK had helped define the European Union as a community of "freedom and prosperity".

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