What would happen if Britain left the EU?

John Springford, senior research fellow at the CER who has carried out a lengthy study of the economic costs of Brexit, says: "The trade-off is an uncomfortable one for Britain if it votes to leave. It’s leave the EU and get your sovereignty back, regulate your economy as you see fit, but lose market access and damage your economy. Or you leave the EU, sign up to the EEA [European economic area] or try to have a bespoke trade agreement with the EU like the Swiss one. But that would mean you’d have to sign up to most of the regulations – you'd have no control over them – and you’d have to agree to the free movement of labour. It seemed to us that both of these alternatives are far worse than EU membership."