Lord Sugar has called for an end to Britain's benefits culture claiming Eastern European immigrants see the country as 'the land of milk and honey'.

The Labour peer said hard-working people found abuse of the benefits system 'demoralising' and that it needed to be 'sorted out'.

The 67-year-old, talking ahead of the launch of The Apprentice on BBC 1 tonight, claimed some of the issues could be solved by 'having balls and standing up to Brussels'.

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Lord Sugar, pictured, has said Eastern European immigrants see Britain as 'the land of milk and honey'

He told the Sun said: 'What annoys me the most is the total abuse of the benefits system. The claims culture. It is demoralising when you see stories about people who have lots of children who can't be bothered to work because they get more money from the system. That has to be sorted out.

'And the fact that people from Europe can come here, particularly the old Eastern Bloc countries that have joined the European community - they see us like the land of milk and honey.

'Before you know it they are on benefits, national health and all that stuff. You can solve it by having balls and standing up to Brussels.'

HOW THE RULES ARE CHANGING FOR BENEFITS-CLAIMING MIGRANTS From November, European jobseekers will only be able to claim Jobseekers Allowance and other key welfare benefits for a maximum period of 3 months. It followed changes that were announced earlier this year to introduce a minimum three month delay to claiming benefits and to cut off benefits after six months unless the individual has clear job prospects. The new rules applied to jobseekers’ allowance, child tax credit and child benefit. Advertisement

He suggested that Eastern European immigrants should have to live in Britain for 'three or four years' and have 'worked and contributed' before being entitled to benefits.

As well as hitting out at European immigrants rushing to Britain to claim off the State having made no contribution to the national economy, he also took aim at leading politicians.

During the interview the former Amstrad boss - now in his tenth year fronting The Apprentice - was critical of Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and said the current coalition was 'no good'.

And he said it was 'fair to say' that with the General Election looming his Labour leader Ed Miliband was 'not the most popular of people as far as the country is concerned'.

Lord Sugar (pictured centre next to fellow Apprentice stars Nick Hewer and Karren Brady) said hard-working people found abuse of the benefits system 'demoralising' and that it needed to be 'sorted out'

But he also backed the MP saying 'he can be Prime Minister'.

Alan Sugar was made a Lord in 2009 and has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Labour Party over the years.

The Labour Party declined to comment on Lord Sugar's remarks this morning.

UKIP's Immigration spokesman Steven Woolfe MEP said: 'It is nice to see that even one of Labour’s staunchest supporters, Labour Peer Lord Alan Sugar, has come to his senses and now recognises how the UK’s benefits system is being targeted by certain groups of EU citizens allowed into our country under the "free movement of people" obligations of the single market.

'In fact, it was successive Labour governments who opened the doors to mass unskilled migration into the UK.

'It was Labour who opened the doors to peoples from Eastern European countries simply to garner votes in the institutions of the European Union.'