IT is increasingly obvious that taking back control is exactly what we, as ordinary people, need to do.

Government should be more local and as close to people as possible, public services like a decent bus service and council houses should be brought back.

We need an immigration policy which works for our economy but with controls that give people confidence in it (such as the emergency brake which is always available, even within the EU).

And we must get politicians back to prioritising ending the waste and pollution that’s destroying our environment and harming our planet.

But it’s now clear that leaving the EU on the terms available will mean the people of the UK ending up with less control.

Economically it would mean having to buy our way into the world’s largest free market (which we enjoy as of right today), the much discussed closure of our borders will not happen because of the havoc it would wreak, especially in Northern Ireland, and the UK’s proud role shaping and leading on laws that protect the whole continent, such as to protect our oceans and climate, will be lost.

I, and the Liberal Democrats as a whole, always opposed this divisive Brexit project. For as long as Taunton Deane had a Lib Dem MP the chaos and shambles arising from the Conservatives’ obsession with Europe was never unleashed as it is now.

And now the Lib Dems are the only party that offers a people’s vote on the final deal.

A vote on what is now proposed would mean a result that can be trusted because people now have information they simply didn’t have in 2016, it’s the only way to settle the matter for good and bring back some stability to our country.

The choice the Conservatives offer, on the other hand, has been derided by their own MPs as following the EU’s rules for years to come or ‘crashing out’ with all the damage to local jobs and national income that involves.

While I believe Britain would be stronger and better off leading Europe rather than leaving it, if I become your MP I will do whatever I can to make the outcome - whichever it is - work for Britain.

It’s time we had a government that put the country, rather than its own petty squabbles, first.

So let’s take back control today, join the Liberal Democrats and make that happen.

GIDEON AMOS OBE

Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Taunton Deane