The contempt of Bavaria has escalated, and on Friday, the state threatened to take the German government to court if it fails to immediate steps to limit the flow of asylum seekers in the country, threatening to take matters into their own hands if the flow did not stop.

A representative of the German government declined to comment to the Journal about Seehofer’s remarks, while Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere attempted to reduce tension.

Speaking at a news conference, Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer said “we need to restrict immigration in order to maintain the public’s solidarity with those in need of protection”.

The announcement followed a meeting of his cabinet that produced an action plan of concrete measures for the reception and integration of newcomers to the largest and richest of Germany’s 16 federal states.

“In the meantime we’ve reached 500 – and the numbers continue to rise,” he said, adding that numerous attacks had been carried out by people with no history of politically-motivated crime.

Seehofer’s warning of a constitutional challenge against the federal government intensifies his clash with Merkel, who he says has bungled the response to the biggest refugee influx since World War II. Schools will be provided with 1,700 teachers, Seehofer said, stressing that “education is the gateway to integration”.

Most of those who arrive in Germany arrive first in Bavaria.

In any event, as the opposing camps on the European Union referendum set out their stalls, it is worth recalling that the referendum is not on Cameron’s reforms, but on Britain’s membership of the European Union itself – a far more important matter than any possibly negative and probably reversible reforms.

The migrant crisis has deeply polarised Germany.

Germany expects at least 800,000 newcomers this year if not more, but Merkel told top-selling Bild newspaper in a preview of an interview to be printed in Monday’s edition that there would “definitely” be no tax increases to help care for them.

“You can not just close the borders”, the German leader said.

A bit less than 630,000 refugees already lived in Germany in 2014.

An aide to Merkel is reported in Call Me Dave as saying that, “despite the warmth of their personal relationship, Merkel believes Cameron has made a series of serious diplomatic errors, and is still paying the prices for quitting the EPP… she thought he had blundered”.