Brexit: Chris Grayling says 'what we don't need' is businesses to 'take fright'

'The most important thing right now is that we settle back into a period of stability'

Chris Grayling urged investors not to be afraid of Brexit Britain (Getty)

Chris Grayling, the Leader of the House of Commons and one of the leading members of the Vote Leave campaign, has said that “what we don’t need right now” is for businesses and markets to “take fright”.

His call for corporate courage in the wake of the Brexit vote was made as politicians and people like Mervyn King, the former governor of the Bank of England, called for a period of calm.

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The referendum result saw the pound plunge to a historic low before recovering on Friday, but on Monday it fell again to its lowest level against the dollar for 31 years.

Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain, Eurosceptic Tory MP Chris Grayling, the Leader of the House of Commons, said: “The most important thing right now is that we settle back into a period of stability.

“There's going to be a lengthy process now. First of all an informal process, as the chancellor [George Osborne] said, while we prepare our strategy, what we actually want to negotiate with our European partners, and then a formal process whereby we go through that process of negotiation.

“What we don’t need right now is a country that believes that things are about to change dramatically and radically, where businesses take fright and the markets take fright.

“I think it’s very important to send a message that says we're going to do this very carefully, we're going to do this very steadily. Britain isn't going to become an inward-facing country that's not a good international citizen.”

Lord King also sought to reassure people, saying “markets move up, markets move down”.

“We don't yet know where they will find their level and the whole aspect of volatility is that there is a trial-and-error process going on before markets discover what the right level of stock markets and exchange rates actually are,” he told the BBC.

“What we need is a bit of calm now, there's no reason for any of us to panic.”

Mr Osborne, in a speech before the markets opened, said one of the challenges facing the UK was “the volatility we have seen and are likely to continue to see in financial markets”.

“Britain’s economy is going to have to adjust to the new situation we find ourselves in,” he added.