MP Ian Liddell-Grainger says he will do all he can to ensure it is business as usual for companies in his Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency that have established trading links with Europe.
In the wake of the UK’s vote to leave the EU, Mr Liddell-Grainger says safeguarding existing commercial ties must now be a top priority.
And, he says, it is highly unlikely the decision will have any impact on the development at Hinkley Point where French state-owned power giant EDF is preparing to invest £24 billion building two new nuclear reactors.
Speaking in Strasbourg shortly after the referendum result was announced, Mr Liddell-Grainger said it had been greeted with ‘intense sadness’ by many of his European colleagues.
“But the decision has been taken and we have to live with it. The challenge now is to ensure it makes the least impact on the UK economy and particularly on those companies which have long-established and profitable trading links with Europe and whose workforces depend on them,” he said.