Europe’s dowry is not weighed in pounds and pence
Can Britain’s membership of the EU be defended purely on economic grounds? Two formidable publications – Hugo Dixon’s The In/Out Question, and the “The economic consequences of leaving the EU”, published by the Centre for European Reform – have tried to make this case. They debunk various unsubstantiated populist arguments: the alleged abuse of the UK welfare state by foreign EU nationals; excessive regulation from Brussels.