Upon arriving, the president waved as he exited the plane before being greeted on the tarmac

The President hugs Brooke Brown Barzun wife of American Ambassador Matthew Barzun, left at Stansted last night

'From the ashes of war, those who came before us had the foresight to create the international institutions and initiatives to sustain a prosperous peace,' he said.

'Their efforts provided a foundation for democracy, open markets and the rule of law, while underwriting more than seven decades of relative peace and prosperity in Europe.' President Obama argued that Britain's membership of the EU 'magnifies' its influence abroad.

'The European Union doesn't moderate British influence – it magnifies it,' he added. 'A strong Europe is not a threat to Britain's global leadership; it enhances Britain's global leadership.'

But his comments were met with anger from Eurosceptics. Former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith led a chorus of protest at Britain being told to accept open borders when the US does not do the same.

Citizens of Mexico, part of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the US and Canada, have no automatic right to enter America, in contrast to the 500million EU nationals free to come to Britain. Mr Duncan Smith said: 'What I do find strange is that he is asking the British people to accept a situation he would not recommend to the American population.'

In his own column for The Sun, Boris Johnson wrote: 'For the United States to tell us in the UK that we must surrender control of so much of our democracy is a breathtaking example of the principle of do as I say, not as I do.

And speaking on BBC's Question Time last night, former defence secretary Liam Fox said: 'I don't like being told we should accept one thing the Americans wouldn't.'

Justice Minister and Vote Leave Campaign today attacked Mr Obama's 'wanton double standards' warning: 'I like him and I don’t have a problem with him giving his view.

'But it’s double standards because he would not dream of opening the US border and allowing free movement with Mexico and he would not dream of allowing the US constitution to be trumped by a Latin American court.

‘What is good for the safety of US citizens must, in the same way, be good for the citizens of the UK.'