Foreign mothers having TOO MANY babies in Britain, minister warns
FOREIGN mothers are having too many babies in Britain and immigration should be curbed, a government minister has warned.
Former Home Office undersecretary Lord Bates called for a government crackdown on "those who want to come here and abuse our openness".
He cited official figures showing one in four babies in the UK were born to non-British mothers in 2013 compared to just one in nine in 1990 – the highest figure since records began.
The baby boom drove Britain's population to grow faster than any other country in the EU that year.
Lord Bates said: "In the year ending December 2011 an estimated 7.8 million people were born outside the UK and living in Britain, while 4.9 million were non-UK citizens.
"For the calendar year of 2013, births in the UK to non UK-born mothers accounted for 25 per cent of all live births. That is why we ned to reduce immigration."
The former minister also revealed that about 55% of the UK's population increase over the last decade was caused by immigration.
According to the Office for National Statistics foreign mothers have more children on average.
Lord Bates been asked about the impact of immigration on Britain's population during a House of Lords session.
He added: "We want people who want to come here to study, to work, to invest and to visit. We want all those people to come.
"What we are doing is drawing a line to say that we must get much tougher with those who want to come here and abuse our openness."
