Cameron Turns Up Heat on In/Out Debate

One sign of that is the prime minister raising the temperature of his language about the great question. He showed a bit of leg – and offered some encouragement to pro-Europeans – when he attacked the Outers last week. He pointed to the “significant downsides” of self-ejection and scoffed at the notion that there is a “land of milk and honey” option for Britain in which we would continue to enjoy all the benefits of being part of the EU from outside it. For the first time, he addressed the alternatives to membership and in doing so he dissed them. He cited the example of Norway, often hailed by Outers as a template for how a country can prosper outside the EU. The prime minister rightly pointed out that the Norwegians have to conform to most EU regulations and also pay a hefty subscription in order to access the single market. Yet the Norwegian government is excluded from the room when the rules of the EU are made. They pay, but they get no say. Norway is also compelled to allow freedom of movement. In fact, it has proportionally twice as many EU migrant workers as the United Kingdom.