WITH the country so conflicted over Brexit, some are proposing a Norway-style option as a middle way. It is anything but.

This may have particular appeal in the south west as it would keep the UK inside the single market but outside the Common Agriculture and Fisheries Policies.

However, hope that this option may be a way through the Brexit gridlock are seriously misplaced.

There were many reasons why people voted to leave the EU, but the most popular ones are often cited as concerns about migration, resistance to making payments to the EU, and a feeling that we were losing sovereignty.

The Norway model would involve the UK joining the European Economic Area (EEA).

This would see the UK bound by many of the laws MEPs like me work on in the European Parliament, but without any influence over their content.

The result would be a serious and significant loss of sovereignty.

Norway is able to export to the single market freely but in return they pay nearly as much into the EU budget as we do.

Brexit was always going to be about trade-offs, but we are still being deceived into thinking we can have the best of both worlds.

The Norway model is far from ideal and a long way from what the country was promised in June 2016. The best deal is the one we currently have as members of the EU which is why it must be an option in the People’s Vote that now looks increasingly inevitable.

MOLLY SCOTT CATO MEP

Green, South West England,

European Parliament, Brussels