Daniel Hannan: British will listen to JCB and Dyson not 'disgraced banks' on EU referendum

The British public prefers to listen to "successful manufacturers" rather than "disgraced banks" when it comes to the UK's membership of the EU, a high-profile Tory MEP has argued.

Daniel Hannan told IBTimes UK that the likes of Dyson and JCB hold much more credibility in the eyes of the electorate when compared with financial firms on the major constitutional issue.

The Eurosceptic's comments come after giant German lender Deutsche Bank said it was considering whether it would move its operations out of the UK in the event of a so-called "Brexit".

The second largest bank in the eurozone confirmed that it had set up a working group on the issue just days after a JCB boss backed a UK exit from the EU.

Lord Bamford stressed that Britain should not fear leaving the 28-member bloc and the JCB chairman argued that an exit could be peaceful and sensible.

Hannan, the MEP for the south east of England, said: "Most voters in Britain, given that line-up, will prefer to listen to successful manufacturing exporters like JCB and Dyson than to disgraced banks."

The 43-year-old also warned that anti-Brexit business arguments today are reminiscent of the failed case for the UK to join the Euro currency in the 1990s.

"The same banks, the same multinationals and the same huge corporations said that if we kept the pound they would disinvest; they would withdraw because Britain would be headed to poverty and isolation," Hannan added.

"Well, 15 years on, can anyone seriously doubt that they were wrong? Why should anyone listen to them when they used precisely the same argument without the slightest admission that it was flawed last time?"

The MEP spoke after it emerged that the government plans to publish its EU referendum bill a day after the Queen's Speech.

The draft legislation, to be issued on 27 May, will be the first solid step by the Conservatives to fulfil their promise to hold a vote on the UK's membership of the EU by the end of 2017.

Hannan, who is expected to be a key figure in the "Out" campaign, said the Eurosceptic movement is made up from "a range of different arguments" from across the political spectrum and a "belief in democracy" unifies them.

The MEP recently recommend that Eurosceptics should be positive in the run-up to the referendum and warned that "you can't sound cheerful when you're talking about Romanians undercutting wages or about health tourism".

Hannan clarified to IBTimes UK: "My own view is that the point of immigration is not to be anti-immigration – it is that we should determine [the policy] ourselves. This is a really critical point of principle."