BRITAIN runs the risk of sleepwalking off the top table of powerful nations, Taunton Deane MP Jeremy Browne warns in his new book.

Mr Browne outlines how rapidly wealth and power is spreading beyond the established ‘elite’ countries to emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil.

Western countries must adapt to secure their place in the new world order as doing nothing will result in failure, advises the MP.

Britain has many advantages – global trade, inventive people, elite education, freedom before the law, the global language and we are positioned between East and West as a member of the world’s largest single market.

But in ‘Race Plan’, Mr Browne draws on his time as a Foreign Office and Home Office Minister to advise that we must address our weaknesses as well as capitalising on our strengths to remain competitive – we can’t stay at the top simply because we’ve been there for 150 years.

He said: “There’s no guarantee we’ll be a successful prosperous country in the future just because we have been in the past. We can be if we have the resolve to make the difficult decisions necessary to be successful.”

Mr Browne added: “I feel it is important, as our MP, to tackle how politics is changing our lives at every level, from the local village to the international stage.

“That means staying in touch with people across Taunton Deane and also grappling with how the big changes in the world are impacting on every community, including right here in Somerset.

“The shift in the distribution of global power has implications for every aspect of our lives.

“It makes a difference to the local employment market, the curriculum that needs to be taught in local schools, and our national wealth, public services and security.”

Race Plan’ is available from bookshops and also online from amazon.co.uk as a book or e-book.

Jeremy Browne is also giving a talk and signing copies at Brendon Books, Taunton on Friday, May 9.