Scholz due to speak following announcement Germany will hold election on 23 February after break-up of ruling coalition

Greetings, it’s midday in Berlin and German chancellor Olaf Scholz will soon address the Bundestag for the first time since his government collapsed, firing the starting gun on his election campaign.

For months Germany has been hamstrung by the weakness of its squabbling three-way coalition government, leaving allies lamenting that Europe’s most powerful country and largest economy was unable to take big decisions. That changed last week, when Scholz sacked his finance minister, the pro-business liberal leader, Christian Lindner, triggering the end of the coalition and early elections.