Last week, the Prime Minister said that life outside the EU would not be all “milk and honey”. He pointed to the disadvantages of the “Norwegian option”, saying that Norway had to accept EU regulations, yet had no vote or influence in Brussels, makes a substantial contribution to the EU budget and even has no effective control over its borders. Why would Britain want such an arrangement?

Why indeed? Even the Norwegians aren’t that keen. The Swiss haven’t adopted it and, pointedly, the Americans, or any other country that trades with the EU, haven’t sought to ape it. So let’s put the Norwegian option to one side.

David Fuller's view

Here is a PDF of Roger Bootle's article.