James Dyson, the billionaire inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, on Friday lost a libel lawsuit against a British newspaper publisher over a column that branded him a hypocrite who had "screwed" Britain.

Dyson sued Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), publisher of the Daily Mirror, at London's High Court over articles that lambasted him for moving the global head office of his company from Britain to Singapore after championing the economic benefits of Brexit.

Judge Robert Jay dismissed Dyson's lawsuit in a written ruling on Friday.

Dyson gave evidence earlier this month that the 2022 column by Brian Reade in the Daily Mirror was "not only wrong but incredibly harmful" to his reputation.

The 76-year-old said that, as someone who had invested heavily in Britain and its young people, he found the criticism "particularly damaging and distressing".

But the High Court ruled that MGN had successfully argued its defence of honest opinion and that Dyson had not proved he had suffered "serious harm" as a result of the column.

"The claimant having failed on the issue of 'serious harm' and the defendant having succeeded on its honest opinion defence, this claim must be dismissed," the judge said.

An MGN spokesperson said in a statement: "We welcome today's judgment which upholds the rights of our columnists to share honestly held opinions, even about powerful or wealthy individuals."

(Reporting by Sam Tobin, Editing by Paul Sandle)