THE Bishop of Salisbury has called for people to take "great care" of each other in light of the "uncertainty" over Brexit.

The Right Reverend Nicholas Holtam made the statements in his New Year message which was broadcast on BBC Radio Wiltshire.

He said: “The uncertainty about whether Brexit is going to be good for us, the lack of predictability about what is going to happen in a world where politicians see disruption as a good thing, makes us anxious about how the year ahead is going to pan out.

“In these circumstances we need to take great care of each other and secure our values so that at least we know the benevolence of one to another.

“Many people seem to have lost confidence in the political process. Brexit or no Brexit we are in the midst of the most difficult peacetime politics for decades. We need to build trust and confidence."

In his New Year’s message, the Bishop also looked back at 2018 and how events in Salisbury had made world-wide headlines.

He said: “All over the world, from Yekaterinburg to Moscow Idaho, new year’s quizzes are likely to include, ‘Where is the oldest working mechanical clock in the world?’ and ‘How high is the spire of Salisbury cathedral?’ For Salisbury, 2018 was a difficult year. Novichok and the poisoning of the Skripals dominated our year.

“The response of police, fire and ambulance services was magnificent, and so was the hospital and the military and the staff at Porton Down. Salisbury really pulled together.

“The lowest point was when Dawn Sturgess died after she and Charlie Rowley got caught up in events they had nothing to do with. None of us really knew what to say about such a calamity. May she rest in peace and may her family and friends know the blessings of God’s love and of the love we have for one another."

But he said the tragic events of last year had created a “connectedness and shared vulnerability” and that the crisis had led to a re-evaluation of what “sort of city does Salisbury want to be?" and "what sort of people are we and what do we want to say to the wider world?”.