Alex Salmond warns against 'project fear mark 2' in EU referendum

The arguments for staying in the EU have been “at best puerile and at worst outlandish scaremongering”, according to Alex Salmond.

Speaking in Brussels, the former First Minister will demand a more positive campaign for remaining in the EU, saying, “the Prime Minister should reboot the Remain campaign away from Project Fear MK 2”.

But the intervention will comes on the same day as a speech from David Cameron, in which the Prime Minister is expected to suggest leaving the EU could lead to another major war across the continent.  

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Cameron will say: “Whenever we turn our back on Europe, sooner or later we come to regret it. We have always had to go back in, and always at much higher cost.

“Can we be so sure that peace and stability on our continent are assured beyond any shadow of doubt? Is that a risk worth taking? I would never be so rash as to make that assumption.”

Salmond, the SNP Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, will use his speech to demand that a Scottish Minister becomes chair of the EU Fisheries Council when the UK takes over the EU council presidency next year.

He said: “With support for the EU across the UK hanging in the balance, the Prime Minister should reboot the Remain campaign away from Project Fear MK 2. There is an overwhelming need in the UK to reset the debate and focus on a positive campaign to highlight the great achievements of the European ideal."

He added: “We want a Europe that prioritises growth and recovery, a Europe which reclaims the concept of a social contact and a Europe that responds with solidarity and humanity when faced with a refugee crisis.”

“Europe must lead – the way it lifted itself 66 years ago today and resolved to work together for the better of all – to build a universal right and hope for every European citizen so that we can live together in peace and harmony. Only the united resolve of its 28 Member States will see this achieved in full, and the UK must endeavor to turn its campaign for ‘remain’ into a force of hope and achievement.”