A British government icon and original supporter of the European Union, former Tory chancellor Nigel Lawson, joined the voices of those calling for the United Kingdom to exit the European Union on grounds it has become a "monstrosity."

In a column for The Times of London, he maintained the economic gains to be had for the United Kingdom by quitting "would substantially outweigh the costs."

Lawson, chancellor of the Exchequer during the era of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, said it would be pointless to try to improve the terms of British membership ahead of a potential national referendum on EU status.

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"Not only do our interests increasingly differ from those of the eurozone members but, while never 'at the heart of Europe' (as our political leaders have from time to time foolishly claimed), we are now becoming increasingly marginalized as we are doomed to being consistently outvoted by the eurozone bloc."

BBC News said the offices of Prime Minister David Cameron pointed to the United Kingdom's success in obtaining cuts in the EU budget as proof that a new relationship could be forged with the continent.

But Lawson said the European Union has become a "bureaucratic monstrosity," according to The Telegraph, and that leaving would mean Britain would no longer be subject to a thicket of EU rules and regulations.

"The only gain that can be clearly quantified is that we would no longer pay our annual membership fee of some 8 billion pounds," he said.

But Lawson also noted the most promising opportunities for export growth lay not with Europe, but with Asia and elsewhere in the developing world.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said leaving the European Union would "make [the United Kingdom] less safe because we cooperate in the European Union to go after criminal gangs that cross borders," BBC News reported.

Clegg said quitting the European Union could put 3 million jobs at risk and mean Britain would be "taken less seriously in Washington, Beijing,Tokyo."

According to the BBC, Cameron is facing increased calls to move the promised 2017 referendum on EU membership to an earlier date.

Richard Corbett, special adviser to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, predicted the outcome would be bad for the United Kingdom if it withdrew its membership, according to The Independent.

"If confronted with a factual discussion on the European Union and also with the huge negative consequences of withdrawal, I think there is a good chance that a referendum will vote to stay in."

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