A journalist looks at a projection about Honda's British factory while Honda Motor Chief Executive Takahiro Hachigo (not in the picture) speaks at a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, February 19, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-hoon

LONDON (Reuters) - The United Kingdom must urgently end the uncertainty over its exit from the European Union so that businesses can have clarity about the future, business minister Greg Clark said just hours after Honda said it would close its car plant in Britain.

“Decisions like Honda’s this morning demonstrate starkly how much is at stake,” Clark said, adding that the decision was a very big blow.

“This news comes on top of months of uncertainty that you as manufacturers have had to endure about Brexit, about our future relationship with the EU,” Clark told a manufacturing conference.

“A situation in which our manufacturers do not have the certainty they need about the terms under which two thirds of our trade will be conducted in 40 days time is unacceptable - it needs to be brought to conclusion and without further delay.”