The independent MEP used the example of mobile phones brands to compare Britain to Brussels, suggesting the bloc is outdated and in need of an upgrade. 

Mr Woolfe told Bloomberg News: “I think what you can see now very clear that Britain is looking to the future.”

Mr Woolfe referred back to his time working in London “many many years ago” when there were Motorola phones and “big bricks”. He said: “Now we are in the world of Apple and Samsung phones, which are very much more technical.” 

“The European Union concept, in my view, is the Motorola of the past. Free trade arrangements are the Samsung and Apple of the future. And therefore Britain should be at the forefront of that. 

“They should be working with continental blocks like the European Union if they so wish but have the freedom to talk to individual countries to work out what is best for those nations. 

“That is the future. That is modernity.”   

Mr Woolfe said the EU must allow services to be incorporated into a Brexit deal to ensure “prosperity” for both the continent and the United Kingdom.

He said that the EU’s decision to be “restrictive” and not allow a free trade deal on services will not only be damaging to Britain but also the continent. 

Michel Barnier has ruled out allowing financial services to be included in a free trade deal after Brexit. 

But Chancellor Philip Hammond said during a trip to Berlin on Wednesday Britain could be subject to “substantial” payment to Brussels in order to gain access to EU markets after Brexit. 

He said: “It makes no sense to either Germany or Britain to put in place unnecessary barriers to trade in goods and services that would only damage businesses and economic growth on both sides of the Channel.” 

Mr Hammond told the German audience “it takes two to tango” as he said many people in London are unclear as to what relationship EU members want to have with Britain after Brexit.