SPD Attacks CDU Welfare Cuts at May Day Rallies, Deepening Coalition Crisis

SPD co-leader and Labour Minister Bärbel Bas used May Day rallies across Germany to denounce CDU-led coalition welfare cuts as 'despicable' and warned of a 'swansong for the German welfare state.' Chancellor Friedrich Merz responded sharply, demanding SPD ministers 'return to work emotionally' and focus on governing rather than campaign rhetoric. The public confrontation underscored the fundamental tensions within the CDU/CSU–SPD grand coalition, which a Japan Times analysis that week described as 'at war with itself.' Three quarters of German voters in the INSA poll told pollsters the coalition was failing.