WELLINGTON saw one of its liveliest political meetings for years - surprisingly, about Brexit.

A large audience filled the Arts Centre to hear Caroline Voaden MEP and Gideon Amos, Lib Dem candidate for Taunton Deane, discuss the route to Brexit – and how it might be softened or halted.

Dozens of people turned out to the event on Thursday evening (August 29).

“On the morning after the referendum I woke up in a different country than the one I thought I was living in," she Ms Voaden, a former Reuters news agency journalist..

"I picked up the phone and rang the Lib Dems and three years later found myself elected to the European Parliament as a member for the South West."

Speaking just two days after the Prime Minister’s decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks, Ms Voaden described the move as a 'cynical attack on our democracy'.

“I really do think that our system is under threat by what Boris Johnson has done," she added.

"The chances of stopping Brexit have massive reduced in the past 48 hours.

"It’s a right old mess.”

Her sense of apprehension about the future was extended when Gideon Amos outlined his view of a post-Brexit UK.

The hopeful Parliamentary candidate said he would fight for people 'hardest hit' in the face of any type of Brexit.

He said: “The facts are that since 2016 economic growth has lagged 2 per cent behind our neighbours and the UK pound has become worth 10-15 per cent less than a range of other currencies.

“But the facts don’t win the argument, as we discovered during the Referendum.

“However, my belief is that the liberal values that Caroline and I stand for politically are the best of British values and these are things that we must champion whether we have left the EU or not.

“My pledge is as your prospective MP is that whatever Brexit brings I’ll continue to fight for the people hardest hit by it.

“I’m not particularly interested in a ministerial career if the Lib Dems should become part of a coalition government. I want to be a tough, independently minded MP who pushes for the interests of our area.”