Norway? No way, says May as she rejects ‘Plan B’

THE Prime Minister has ruled out the ‘Norway option’ for Brexit amid concerns that it would keep Britain’s borders open to EU citizens ‘indefinitely’.

Tory former minister Nick Boles yesterday said he had been contacted by four Cabinet members about his plan to join the European Free Trade Association (Efta).

Membership would allow the UK to remain within a common market area with the EU and continue existing customs arrangements, while pulling out of agricultural and fishing policies – but critics say it would mean accepting freedom of movement for EU citizens. The four current Efta members are Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland.

Mr Boles had initially proposed that Britain adopt ‘Norway for now’ before moving to a trade deal with the EU. However, yesterday he admitted that the country would have to join Efta on an indefinite basis.

He said: ‘Good to see that people are taking Norway Plus seriously as a Plan B. But important to note that it is very unlikely that Efta states will accept temporary membership. If we join it will need to be an indefinite commitment.’

Norway’s prime minister Erna Solberg has previously said it would be ‘difficult’ for Efta members to accept an application to join by a country that has made clear it would want to leave soon afterwards.

In the Commons chamber yesterday, Mrs May repeatedly dismissed the idea of joining Efta. Tory MP Anna Soubry urged the Prime Minister to offer the Commons a Plan B as she claimed her Brexit deal would be voted down. She asked: ‘What is the Prime Minister’s Plan B – is it Norway, plus the single market, the customs union, which some of us have been arguing for?’

Mrs May joked: ‘People have said to me it wasn’t possible for me to negotiate a deal with the EU. No sooner do I, then people are saying “well, what’s the next thing you’re going to negotiate”.’

Asked again if Britain could join Efta, Mrs May replied: ‘That option does not deliver on the vote of the British people.’