Britain will be weaker outside EU: UK government

LONDON: The UK government today released a study to warn that Britain would be "weaker" outside the European Union in the event of an exit vote in the June 23 referendum on the country's membership of the 28-nation bloc.

"Britain would be weaker, less safe and worse off outside the EU," the report said.

However, the camp in favour of " Brexit" branded the study a "dodgy dossier" which is resorting to fear tactics as the campaign for the referendum gains momentum in the UK.

There is a growing divide within the UK Cabinet as ministers supporting "Brexit" have been denied access to information prepared by civil servants relating to the EU referendum.

"It is important that the civil service maintains impartiality during the EU referendum," said Priti Patel, the senior-most Indian-origin member of the Cabinet.

UK foreign secretary Philip Hammond at the launch of the study here said: "Some have said we should focus our attention on the Anglosphere and the Commonwealth. But the EU already has or is negotiating trade deals with all the biggest Commonwealth countries. None of our allies wants us to leave the EU - not Australia, not New Zealand, not Canada, not the US."

"In fact, the only country, if the truth is told, that would like us to leave the EU is Russia. That should probably tell us all we need to know," Hammond said.

The report says a credible blueprint was "completely missing" from leave campaign proposals.

It claimed all of the alternative models were too risky to consider and highlighted the fact that Norway and Switzerland, which are not EU members, still had free movement of people - to counter the "Vote Leave" camp's immigration claims.

Iain Duncan Smith, UK work and pensions secretary and one of the ministers part of "Vote Leave" camp, criticised the report's approach - arguing that it was misleading.