Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond suggested shortcomings in what is described as the Norwegian model, the special arrangement negotiated between the EU and Norway, saying the restrictions and obligations that it would involve mean it "cannot be one for the UK". He also considers a broad bilateral agreement along the lines that the EU has with Switzerland and Turkey, arguing that such a deal would result in unacceptable limits on trade in services. As for the parallel of Canada, he says the current EU-Canada free trade agreement took years to agree and would not offer UK firms the benefits that the current single market arrangements do. 

The foreign secretary is now spelling out the alternatives to EU membership, mentioning Switzerland, Norway, Canada and Turkey as options mooted by those wanting to leave the EU. He claims the Leave campaign has not been able to settle on one model because all have major drawbacks and none is a good as the "special status" that the UK currently has. 

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, part of a government backing staying in the EU, says a future outside the EU is a "leap into the unknown" - a variation on the phrase "leap in the dark" which has been used repeatedly by Remain campaigners in recent weeks. He says a vote to leave on 23 June would lead to a "two year window" of exit negotiations. During this period, he says the UK economy would be "on hold" and businesses would have no guarantee that they would have access to the EU single market or other markets. If the UK votes to leave, the existing "goodwill" to the UK from its EU partners would "evaporate very quickly" and they would not "want to do us any favours".  

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond is now speaking in central London about the alternatives to EU membership. A document setting out the government's views on the matter - which has been attacked by those seeking to Leave the EU - will be published shortly. You can watch it live on this page.

Reality Check

Image source, AFP

The government is going to lay out some of the other options for the UK if it were to leave the EU. Leave campaigners say the UK would negotiate its own agreement and not follow any of these models.

1) Norway

Norway is a member of the European Economic Area, has access to the single market and follows EU legislation in areas such as the free movement of goods, services, people and money. 

It is not bound by EU laws governing things like agriculture and fisheries or monetary union, but it does have to make a financial contribution to the EU budget.

It does not get to vote on EU policies.

2) Switzerland

Switzerland is a member of the European Free Trade Association.

Its access to the single market is governed by a series of agreements, which cover some but not all areas of trade.

It makes a financial contribution to the EU, which is smaller than Norway’s.

Switzerland does not have a general duty to apply EU laws but it does have to accept free movement and implement some EU regulations to enable trade.

But there may be trouble ahead with Switzerland's relationship with the EU, after a 2014 referendum supported placing limits on immigration.

3) World Trade Organisation

The WTO sets out rules for international trade that apply to all members, so this is what the UK would have, after a period of transition, if no agreements were made following an EU exit.

It would mean that the UK would not have to accept free movement or contribute to the EU budget, but goods exported to EU countries would still have to meet EU standards.

There would be some tariffs in place on trade with the EU and trade in services would be restricted.

Peers have called for changes to the funding of trade unions proposed in the government's Trade Union Bill , externalas well as "urgent" cross-party talks on how political parties are funded. A committee set up to review the government's proposed legislation has recommended:

• New union members should be asked to make an active choice about whether or not to opt in to the fund    
• The proposed transition period to an opt-in system for new union members should increase from three months to a minimum of a year
• Trade union members should not be required to renew a decision to opt in every five years as proposed in the Bill
• New duties requiring unions to report on all spending from their political funds should be revised to ensure they are not overly burdensome

Image source, PA

One of UKIP MP Douglas Carswell's favourite subjects is his belief that the legislature has become subservient to the executive. In his latest blog post, external, he says MPs will "nod through" £220bn worth of government spending later on what is known as Estimates Day and suggests this shows that the House of Commons has become a "pantomime". He writes. 

Read The Guardian's report, external

Read the Daily Telegraph's report, external

Read The Times report (£), external

Offering the meningitis B vaccine to all children is "not cost effective" and would be a waste of NHS resources, the government says.

Public support for the extending the vaccine grew after the mother of two-year-old Faye Burnett shared pictures of her dying from the infection.

The jab is offered to children in their first year of life.

But more than 800,000 people signed a petition, external for it to be given to all children under 11. Read more.

Here's a round-up of other stories making the headlines this morning.

• Workers should double the amount they are saving into their occupational pension schemes, a two-year review carried out for the Labour Party has concluded.  
• Unacceptable behaviour and rows between Whitehall officials have been blamed for delays in subsidies being paid to farmers in England.  
• Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced plans to increase the amount of council tax paid by those in the most expensive houses and to give extra help to those struggling to pay.  

• The Welsh Conservatives pledge to begin work on a planned M4 relief road within 12 months of coming to power if successful in the assembly elections in May.
• Pilots are calling for research into what would happen if a drone hit an airliner, after 23 near-misses around UK airports in six months last year.  

Image source, PA

A government document assessing and criticising the "alternatives" to EU membership has not even been published yet but it is already causing controversy. We expect to see the paper at about 10:30 GMT, when it will be formally launched by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, one of five cabinet ministers campaigning to leave the EU, has described it as a "dodgy dossier". Speaking on behalf of the Vote Leave campaign group, he said leaving the EU was "the safer choice". 

Image source, AFP

So what has Lord Lamont been saying about why the UK should leave the EU? The former Conservative chancellor, who lost his job in the wake of the UK being forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992, has written an article for the Daily Telegraph, external stating that a vote to leave would give Britain control of its immigration, boost democracy and accountability and give the UK more economic freedom while retaining existing trade relationship. He writes:

Image source, House of Commons

It's Wednesday so it must be Prime Minister's Questions. The week so far has been dominated by the EU referendum but there's no guarantee that this will be reflected in the House of Commons. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn did not raise the issue last week and may choose to train his focus elsewhere again. Conservative backbenchers were also rather restrained last week, opting to focus on other subjects. But after a week of hand-to-hand fighting on issues like civil service neutrality, access to EU documents and the arguments for Brexit, they may not be quite so coy this time. And after last week's clash over Jeremy Corbyn's attire, I wonder whether there will there by any more sartorial banter or references to the leaders' respective mothers? You'll be able to watch it all from noon.

BBC Breakfast

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Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said leaving the EU would be a "messy" divorce.

Mr Hammond, who is campaigning to stay in the European Union, dismissed criticism of a government document to be published later which will conclude Britain would be weaker, less safe and worse off outside the European Union.

He criticised Leave campaigners for not presenting their own "credible model" for what the UK would negotiate with the EU. He called on them to "present their own dossier" to explain how the UK could maintain free trade deals whilst getting out of EU contributions, free movement of people and red tape. 

He said it would be possible to negotiate trade deals "from scratch" but it would take years and put British jobs in "limbo".

Responding to news that the former Conservative Chancellor Lord Lamont has decided to campaign to leave the EU, Mr Hammond said Lord Lamont had "always been passionately hostile to the European Union".

But he dismissed Conservative divides over the issue, saying the party was "stronger than what divides us" and "we'll all pull together once the referendum is over".

The UK would be "weaker, less safe and worse off" outside the European Union, a government analysis to be published later will conclude.

Unacceptable behaviour and rows between Whitehall officials have been blamed by MPs for delays in subsidy payments to farmers in England.

Concerns about the future of the economy played a significant part in the 1975 European referendum and it may do so again, says the BBC's David Cowling.

Former Conservative Chancellor Norman Lamont comes out in favour of an EU exit, saying the referendum on 23 June is a "once-in-a-generation opportunity".

A government report claiming Britain would be worse off outside the EU is aimed at forcing Leave campaigners to spell out their alternative, the foreign secretary says.