Beaconsfield’s MP Dominic Grieve will go head to head with a leading Brexit campaigner in Marlow tomorrow (April 6) in what is set to be a fierce debate.

The MP will battle it out against John Petley from Campaign for an Independent Britain and argue for remaining in the EU ahead of June’s Referendum.

A large crowd is expected to attend the event at All Saints Church on The Causeway which has been organised by Rev Dave Bull and district councillor Alex Collingwood.

Entry is completely free and the debate will kick off at 5:30.

Ahead of the discussion Mr Grieve said: “As Attorney General, I had plenty of opportunity to observe the workings of the EU and its impact on our country.

“Some of the issues with which I dealt could be frustrating and there are perfectly valid criticisms that can be made of the EU’s operation.

“But none of these criticisms persuade me that we should leave. By joining up in 1973 we opened a period of national economic revival that has continued to this day.

“The period has witnessed a massive expansion in our trade in goods and services with the EU which now stands at around 45% of all our exports.

“We have also enjoyed a growth in prosperity based on the arrival of inward investment which has seen the UK as a perfect base for entering the EU market. Locally the pharmaceutical sector benefits greatly from this.

“The EU’s negotiating power as a market of 450 million people has also helped unlock markets further afield where tariffs and protectionism have been an obstacle.”

John Petley, who is arguing to leave the EU said: “June 23rd provides us with a great opportunity to put right an historic wrong. In 1973, most people thought we were moving from one free trade area, EFTA, to another, the so-called Common Market.

“However, what we joined in that momentous year was a political project whose objective was progressively to hollow out our national democratic institutions, including our Westminster Parliament.

“Power would be gradually handed over to institutions in Brussels. We were deceived into joining by the prime Minister of that time, Edward Heath, because he knew of our unease about this project to create a new federal superstate.

“The EU’s supporters on the Continent are quite open about its objective. “What threatens us is the lack of Europe, not the excess of it,” said François Hollande, the French President, last year.

“Over here, successive governments have been much more reticent. Even the recent Government leaflet said much about trade and immigration but nothing about the EU’s raison d'être.”