BRITAIN NEEDS EU EXIT PLAN NOW
Cabinet minister demands PM acts before it’s too late
DAVID Cameron must plan an exit strategy for leaving the EU now, a Cabinet minister warned yesterday.
The PM came under fire from Culture Secretary John Whittingdale for having no Brexit arrangements in place if Britain votes to quit in the referendum.
He also denounced Mr Cameron’s attempts to scare voters into supporting the Remain camp and said claims Brexit would lead to an economic shock were “dangerous”.
Mr Whittingdale, one of six Cabinet ministers to back the Leave side, was also scathing in his assessment of the Prime Minister’s attempts to win a new deal with Europe.
The outspoken intervention is bound to concern Downing Street as the most direct attack on Mr Cameron by a Cabinet member since divisions in the Tory party emerged in the wake of his EU talks.
Mr Whittingdale warned that Europe is holding the UK back and said the “real economic opportunities lie outside the EU”.
He also revealed that he has held talks with the BBC’s director general to ensure balanced coverage of
the referendum campaign and said he would “revisit the issue” amid concerns that the corporation favours the Remain side.
Addressing a meeting of political journalists, Mr Whittingdale said Mr Cameron’s renegotiation deal last month would make the situation only “marginally better” than the current arrangement with the EU.
He stressed that the Government needs to prepare for a Brexit after the referendum on June 23 and revealed that he has already told offi cials in his department to begin looking at telecoms agreements.
He said: “It is sensible that the Prime Minister should prepare for both outcomes.”
He rubbished claims that the UK will suffer an economic shock after a Brexit and accused the Remain camp of talking the country down.
He said: “Telling people that Armageddon will follow from our withdrawal in my view is both wrong and dangerous.
“If Britain did decide to leave, people may react on the basis that they have been told it is going to cause all these economic shocks.” He added: “This country is the fi fth- biggest economy in the world. We sit on the G7 and on the UN security council.
“We are able to prosper outside the EU and in many ways we will be liberated to do many things we are prevented from doing at present.”
Mr Whittingdale said the Remain camp should stop claiming a postBrexit UK would have similar agreements with Europe as Norway or Switzerland, which have to accept free movement and pay into the EU budget. The warning by Mr Whit- tingdale – one of the most respected ministers in the Government and a former private secretary to Margaret Thatcher – was welcomed by Brexit campaigners.
A spokesman for Vote Leave said: “When we vote to leave the EU the Prime Minister will need to negotiate a free trade deal with Europe.
“David Cameron failed spectacularly to secure anything but trivial changes in his EU membership renegotiation, so he needs to start planning for a Brexit now.”
The spokesman added: “The proEU campaign needs to stop talking down Britain. The same people warned of economic Armageddon if we didn’t join the euro.
“They were wrong then – and they are wrong now.”
Mr Whittingdale is currently reviewing the BBC Charter in his role as Culture Secretary and said he has held talks with director general Lord Hall and Rona Fairhead, chairwoman of the BBC Trust, to ensure referendum coverage is fair and balanced.
He said people who think the corporation has got the balance wrong must be able to complain.