Just seen these letters in The Times:
Sir, Further to your leading article (“Never Norway”, Mar 27) , the idea that Common Market 2.0 is a non-negotiable unicorn is false. As recently as January Michel Barnier stated that the EU “would be ready to immediately support this evolution and respond favourably” to such a Norway-style proposal.
Nor would we be a “rule-taker”, as claimed. We would have powers over agriculture, fisheries, justice, home, defence and foreign affairs. On single market regulations we could negotiate opt-outs and would have a right of reservation. More than 400 EU acts have not been implemented in Iceland and Norway since the foundation of the European Economic Area.
Common Market 2.0 would respect the referendum result. We would leave the EU’s political institutions while continuing to benefit from a close economic relationship. Common Market 2.0 has its disadvantages, every real-world compromise does. But Common Market 2.0 can succeed where the government has failed so far. It is a serious, practical and deliverable option that is negotiable with the EU and which can bring together a divided country.
Nick Boles, MP; Stephen Kinnock, MP; Lucy Powell MP; Rob Halfon, MP
Sir, Your editorial makes the case against the Common Market 2.0 plan while David Smith (Business Comment, Mar 27) argues against being a member of a customs union on the ground that it restricts our ability to negotiate independent trade deals. A key feature of both arguments is that somehow this ability is a gain from Brexit. All the evidence is that in reality Britain is too small to negotiate anything better than that which already exists courtesy of agreements already agreed by the EU. The best we have been able to do is roll over these agreements, while Japan and the US are demanding more advantageous terms from the UK.
To give Mr Smith his due, he has also argued elsewhere that Brexit was a mad idea, and it is hard to disagree with that. But if we are to respect the result of the referendum, simultaneously obtaining the best trade deals on offer while securing an absence of a hard border in Northern Ireland, surely Common Market 2.0 is the best of the options likely to be available, bearing in mind that the evidence on net migration to date is that EU immigration is being replaced almost one for one with non-EU immigration?
Alan Gregory
Emeritus professor of finance, University of Exeter, Shaldon, Devon
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