EU referendum: MPs may push to keep UK in European single market despite Brexit vote

'If the British people voted to leave the EU that's one thing. But can we really say that they voted for the devastation and destruction of the entire exporting sector of our economy?' says one MP

British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Getty)

MPs who back the UK staying in the European Union may attempt to keep the country inside the single market even if there is a vote for Brexit.

The pro-Remainers, who include most Labour MPs, a large number of Conservatives, and the SNP, hold a strong House of Commons majority.

Many are already planning to use their votes to push for the UK to remain inside the European single market, while accepting the public’s decision to exit the EU, in the event of a Leave victory in the 23 June referendum.

However, such a compromise would be highly controversial. Other countries which have access to the single market but are not EU members, like Norway, have to pay into the EU and accept the free movement of people – two of the key concerns raised by Leave campaigners in the referendum debate.

One minister told the BBC: “We would accept the mandate of the people to leave the EU. But everything after that is negotiable and Parliament would have its say.”

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Many Remain MPs expect that the likely economic shock following a Brexit vote would increase pressure on any post-referendum Conservative government to seek access to the single market outside the EU. Labour MP Stephen Kinnock told the BBC "If the British people voted to leave the EU that's one thing.

"But can we really say that they voted for the devastation and destruction of the entire exporting sector of our economy? I don't think you can necessarily say that there's a democratic mandate for that."

Countries like Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein that already have such a relationship are exempt from many EU regulations and don’t have to cooperate on justice or foreign affairs issues.

Even in the event of a vote for Brexit, the referendum will not be the the end of the EU debate. Britain would have to activate Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, triggering withdrawal from the EU within two years. However, it is not clear if it would be activated immediately, or after Britain had negotiated a new relationship with the EU. Leave campaign figurehead Michael Gove indicated on Sunday that Britain would not have left the EU by the end of this Parliament in 2020, even in the event of a Leave vote.

Vote Leave today claimed that a vote to Remain would cost the UK billions in extra EU costs in the years ahead. Boris Johnson will say later that £2.4bn EU bill could result from increased budgets in Brussels and potential future bailouts of Eurozone countries.

David Cameron called the claims “simply wrong.”

“We are not part of bailout schemes,” he said. “We also have a veto over any EU budget increases.”

Mr Cameron will deepen Tory divisions over the EU debate today when he appears alongside the leaders of the Liberal Democrats, the Green party, and former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman to argue against Brexit.

Conservative leave campaigners have already criticised the cross-party move. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will not attend the event, having said in the past that he will not share a platform with Mr Cameron.