David Cameron is off to Iceland today to give a speech on Britain’s European Union membership and it’s a clear signal that he will eventually campaign for Britain to remain in. Until now, the Prime Minister has avoided talking about why Britain should ‘Remain’ or ‘Leave’ the EU — instead focusing on the importance of the renegotiations.
His argument will be based on Iceland and Norway, who are members of the European Economic Area — which allows them to trade inside the single market. According comments from No.10 sources, Cameron will warn this means they have less control over decision making in Brussels and this kind of looser relationship would not be right for Britain. One source told the BBC:
‘Unlike the UK, Norway has no veto in the European Council, no votes in the EU’s council of ministers, no MEPs or votes in the European Parliament, and no European commissioner to help.’
Another Downing Street source tells the Daily Telegraph ‘it is not necessarily a land of milk and honey’ and ‘people need to understand that there are significant downsides’ to a Brexit.
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