Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) on Thursday formally debated the possible expulsion of disgraced former chancellor Gerhard Schröder from the party over his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The discussions took place in the northern city of Hanover, with local party official Christoph Matterne saying that 17 motions for expulsion had been received from the party that fulfilled the formal criteria. Several hours later, another SPD official said that the discussions had been concluded without a result. A three-member commission would conduct internal consultations and a deci…