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Ex-chancellor calls for EU exit

Lord Lawson has called for the UK to leave the European Union. Writing in The Times he described the EU as a "bureaucratic monstrosity" and said the "case for the exit is clear."

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Lord Lawson: I shall be voting 'out' in 2017

Former Chancellor Lord Lawson has said he will be voting to leave the EU in 2017 if he gets the opportunity to do so.

Lord Lawson, who was Margaret Thatcher's longest-serving chancellor and remains a highly-respected figure within the party, also said that it was "by no means assured" that Mr Cameron would win the 2015 general election. He said the economic case for leaving was clear:

You do not need to be within the single market to be able to export to the European Union, as we see from the wide range of goods on our shelves every day. The statistics are eloquent.

Over the past decade, UK exports to the EU have risen in cash terms by some 40%. Over the same period, exports to the EU from those outside it have risen by 75%.

The heart of the matter is that the relevant economic context nowadays is not Europe but globalisation, including global free trade, with the World Trade Organisation as its monitor.

Read: 20 Tory MPs press for European referendum bill

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Ex-chancellor calls for EU exit

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