FORMER Taunton MP David Nicholson has weighed into the EU referendum debate.

Mr Nicholson, who represented the constituency for ten years from 1987 and lives near Dulverton, fears what could happen if we abandon our Continental neighbours.

He lays into the Brexit campaigners, taking a pop at Leave mouthpiece Boris Johnson, who not so long ago informed Mr Nicholson he was in favour of staying.

He warns Remainers that their biggest vulnerability is the issue of migration and is also angry at what has happened to the Conservative party over the issue.

Here's what Mr Nicholson has to say.

"One point in the Referendum debate has been eclipsed by all the economic argument that has dominated so far; the consequences of break-up with neighbours.

"Brexit voters (and don’t knows) must ask themselves whether it will be good for this country to turn its back on a project involving our nearest neighbours, which we have supported for over 40 years, thus letting down our numerous friends, and playing into the hands of those abroad who dislike the British influence and would welcome us quitting.

"At the moment, I do not see any sign of any British statesman possessing the skill and command to rebuild the broken bridges with our neighbours, if Brexit happens.

"What will happen to the rest of the EU if we leave? Does it matter? Yes, it certainly does. They might become more centralised and dependent on the Franco-German axis. We have never been relaxed about a Continent potentially united against us, and this in truth would resemble Boris’s Napoleonic nightmare.

"Or the EU will break up, which a number of Outers would welcome. There could be all kinds of tensions, especially in Eastern and South Eastern Europe where hardly any of the present borders have historic, geographical or ethnic legitimacy. Cameron’s warning of war seemed far-fetched at the time – but not so far-fetched if things go down the break-up path.

"The Outers always say ‘Oh, we will still have NATO; it is NATO that has kept the peace’. No - it is fear of Russia that has helped to keep the peace, and NATO principally exists to cope with Russia. A sundered EU will mean a weakened NATO.

"One issue, where I have warned the leaders of Remain of their vulnerability – migration. On this neither Remain, nor the leaders of the EU and its larger members have made any effective response, either in the campaign, or over the past two years of unprecedented inflows.

"But I am angry at the way the Conservative party, which I have supported since I was ten, has been ‘taken over’ in a way we thought only happened to Labour. Cameron presumably thought that he would be backed by an almost united Cabinet, with his old friend Gove (as Lord Chancellor, traditionally above the more raucous of political disputes) on side. Nor did he expect Boris to oppose (many Tory MPs had been told by Boris that he was a Remainer, as I was by Boris over a year ago in Dulverton Town Hall).

"And what a poisonous campaign the Brexit ministers have run. Loud, raucous, jeers at the arguments of their Remain colleagues, constant attacking and undermining of the Prime Minister. Plus their exaggerated screams at the extension of time for voter registration, and at the interventions by what they sneeringly call ‘experts’, like Mark Carney and President Obama.

"The wounds from this business will take years to heal."