Brexit could leave Britain with the worst of both worlds – like Norway

This is a translation of an article I wrote for the Norwegian daily VG

Never since the German attack on Norway in 1940 destroyed Neville Chamberlain’s premiership and brought Winston Churchill to power, has your country been so discussed in Britain. Supporters of Britain staying in the EU warn of Norway’s ‘fax democracy’. The ‘leave’ campaign denounce Norwegian politicians who tell us about the dangers of following the Norwegian example, as liars bought with EU gold.

There has been propaganda from both sides, of course, but the sheer lack of substance behind the ‘leave’ campaign is stunning.  The right-wing politicians, who dominate the anti-European cause, want the British to take an extraordinarily important decision. Yet they offer us no coherent plan about what we should do if we leave the EU.

For years, they said Norway was the model. ‘The people of Norway, Switzerland and Iceland are happy,’ explained Nigel Farage of the populist UK Independence Party in 2015.