The lack of alternatives put forward for EU membership will allow In campaigners to play on the “risks and uncertainties” of Brexit, says a professor.
Michael Keating, one of the UK’s foremost constitutional experts, said pro-EU campaigners will be able to use the same tactics adopted by the pro-UK lobby in the independence referendum.
That approach came to be known as ‘Project Fear’ after it was coined by a Better Together campaign insider.
Professor Keating told Holyrood’s EU committee in a written statement:“Neither the main ‘leave’ campaigns nor the UK Government has yet outlined alternatives to membership.
“This may play to the advantage of the ‘remain’ campaign, which will be able to play on the risks and uncertainties about leaving. This was a critical factor in the Scottish independence referendum.”
Dith O’Ceallaigh, the former Irish ambassador to the UK, said he thinks David Cameron will ultimately be successful in the renegotiation, but added the technical arguments will not persuade those “emotionally” against the EU.
He told MSPs: “It seems to me that it’s much more cultural, it’s much more historical, it’s to some extent even emotional.
“And I’m not so much talking about Scotland, I’m not talking about Wales, I’m certainly not talking about Northern Ireland. I’m talking about England. There seems to be resurgence in emotional terms of some sort of English nationalism.”
Last week Scottish Secretary David Mundell, a close ally of David Cameron’s, backed holding the referendum as early as June, which would come just weeks after the Holyrood election on May 5.