Let the right one in: Dyson also said Britain's immigration laws should be changed to allow the ‘right sort of people to stay here’

Inventor James Dyson has called for Britain to leave the European Union so it is no longer ‘dominated and bullied by the Germans’.

The entrepreneur behind the innovative Dyson vacuums said that large German companies had too much power over EU regulations, which meant ‘the old guard’ was supported over new technology.

Sir James has spoken previously of his hope that Britain will leave the EU if Germany does not start to listen to fellow members after legislation was brought in to restrict high-powered vacuum cleaners at 1,600 watts, believing the ban did not go far enough.

While the restriction angered many consumers, Dyson vacuums use less power than many rivals so Sir James would benefit from an even lower limit.

Asked on Friday on Radio 4’s Today programme if he wanted to stay in the EU, he said: ‘Not particularly, no, because I think it’s dominated by Germany, and in our particular field we have these large German companies who dominate standard setting and energy reduction committees, and so we get the old guard and old technology supported and not new technology.’

He said he would want to keep ‘European free trade and free movement of peoples’ but added: ‘I don’t see that we need to be dominated and bullied by the Germans.’

David Cameron has promised to hold a referendum by 2017 on whether Britain should remain in the EU, as he tries to negotiate looser ties with Brussels.

Sir James, who founded his firm in 1993, has lobbied for the energy consumption of vacuum cleaners to be reduced to a maximum of 700 watts.

But he said his ideas were met with opposition. He said in September: ‘If German companies go on dominating European legislation, that’s a very good reason not to be in Europe.

'If they’re not going to listen to us, we shouldn’t be in there.’

Prime Minister David Cameron visiting the Dyson Vacuum Factory in Malmesbury, Cotswolds

Cameron is given a tour of the Dyson factory by Sir James Dyson (left) - the firm hopes to build two more labs employing an extra 2,000 staff

Responding to Sir James’s comments on Europe, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said ‘a very important part of the EU reform agenda is around competitiveness and flexibility’.

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