LAST Thursday saw one of the biggest democratic exercises in British history with more than 33 million people from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar having their say.

On issues this big it is absolutely right that we don’t leave it to the politicians but let people have their say and I was proud that after so many years of wrangling, the question of our relationship with the EU was put on the ballot paper in only our third nationwide Referendum.

For me, and for 16 million other people who voted, this was not the result I wanted, nor the outcome that I believe is best for our country.

We have opened a Pandora’s box of economic uncertainty, campaigners have made promises to people that cannot and will not be kept (and are already scrambling to discount what was said and printed) and some, thankfully a few, campaigners have whistled the devil's tunes of intolerance and we should not be surprised that evil has started to dance.

But, there can be no doubt about the result, or about the resolve of the Government to do what it said and start implementing the decision in the best possible way for the people we represent.

The deal that the PM negotiated in February will not be triggered, meaning that all of the benefit reductions for EU migrants will not come into place, but other than that nothing will change formally for at least the next two years and that timetable is triggered by the serving of divorce papers in the form of Article 50 of the EU treaty by Britain.

There will be a hugely complicated process of negotiation as our leaders attempt to get the best settlement for Britain and work out the 'red lines' on economic market access and free movement of labour.

Of course much will change informally as the risk profile of Britain has jumped up and I was very sad to see us lose our prized triple A rating for our government debt which has made us a safe haven for investors and also kept the cost of borrowing to the lowest possible level. We may see a recession, as people stop spending during the uncertainty, but we have built a strong foundation for the British economy over the last few years, and we will hopefully weather any storms. More concerning is whether companies wanting to invest here continue to do so.

My job over the next months is to do all I can to protect the hard-won jobs and investment we have seen locally in the last six years, as well as do my best to help you as your MP.