LOCAL MP Ian Liddell-Grainger was this week banned from entering Russia after being accused of “whipping up Russiaphobic hysteria.”

One of six Somerset MPs, including Brexit minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, to be declared persona non grata by the Kremlin, Mr Liddell-Grainger (pictured) responded: “This is not a matter which is going to cause me to lose much sleep.”

He is one of 287 MPs now blacklisted by Russia in response to the UK government’s decision to sanction 386 members of the Duma (lower house of the Russian parliament).

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the sanctioned MPs “should regard it as a badge of honour.” He added: “What we will do is keep up our robust and principled support for the Ukrainian people and their right to protect their lives, their families, and to defend themselves.”

Mr Liddell-Grainger told the Free Press: “Being told one cannot visit Russia is like being told one cannot have root-canal treatment.

“What I find extraordinary is that there are still people naïve enough to believe that petty gestures like this are going to diminish the volume of global protests against the atrocities that Russia is carrying out in Ukraine.”