Lord Michael Bates ( pictured ) said too many babies are born to immigrant mothers in the UK . Too many babies are being born to immigrant mothers in the UK , a Government minister said last night . In controversial remarks , Lord Bates said that a quarter of children born in the UK each year now had a mother who was herself from overseas . He added : 'That is why we need to reduce immigration ' . In 2001 , prior to Labour presiding over a decade of wide-scale immigration , only 16 per cent of UK births were to foreign mothers . Home Office Minister Lord Bates reeled off a series of statistics to demonstrate the significant impact mass immigration is having . They included the fact that , at the end of December 2013 , there were an estimated 7.8million people born overseas living in the UK . It is understood to be the first time a Government minister has directly suggested a need to reduce the number of babies being born to immigrants . However , ministers and campaign groups have in the past stressed the pressure which is being put on maternity services and schools . Lord Bates , who was previously MP for Langbaurgh in the north east , was responding to a House of Lords question from Migrationwatch chairman Lord Green of Deddington . In lively exchanges , Lord Green said that – based on current levels of net migration – Britain would have to build a new city the size of Birmingham every two years to cope . Currently , there are 300,000 more people arriving in the UK every year than leaving – demolishing David Cameron 's pledge to cut the figure to the 'tens of thousands ' . Lord Bates said : 'We are absolutely at one on needing a firm but fair immigration policy to protect the public services of this country and provide opportunities for those who want to come here to work . ' However , he was criticised by members of the Labour and Liberal Democrat benches for his comments . Labour 's Lord Soley said the children of migrants 'have made an immensely valuable contribution to the United Kingdom ' . He added : 'We ought to be proud of that and say so . A quarter of children born in the UK each year now had a mother who was herself from overseas . Baroness Hussein-Ece , a Lib Dem , said political leaders 'need to make a case for the positive impact that immigration has had on this country ' . She added : 'The care system would collapse without immigrant labour . Does the Minister think that the constant negative narrative of immigration , without the positive , is detrimental to British society—a society that has always been one of tolerance which values and upholds democracy in building better institutions ? Do the Government not really need to take the lead on this ? ' There has been controversy over the most accurate way of measuring the impact immigration is having on the size of the UK population . Last year , a report by Migrationwatch said immigration could be responsible for as much as 84 per cent of the surge in Britain 's population this century . The study claimed the true impact of immigration has been 'substantially understated ' because the Office for National Statistics did not count 1.3million children born to foreign parents as part of the impact of immigration on population growth . It concluded that of the 4.6million population rise between 2001 and 2012 , 3.8million is due to the biggest wave of immigration the country has faced . Not including children born in the UK meant net migration was recorded at a much lower 2.5million . In separate exchanges with the Labour benches , Lord Bates defended the Prime Minister 's failure to hit his 'tens of thousands ' target . He said : 'It could well be that when the Prime Minister was making those remarks we were in the depths of despair as a country in 2010 . 'Since then we have had a jobs miracle . We have created more jobs than the rest of Europe put together . 'As a result of that , not surprisingly , people want to come and find work . ' Lord Bates , an Oxford graduate , was made a Deputy Speaker of the Lords in 2013 . He served as a Government whip before being appointed to the Home Office last year . He speaks for the Government in the Upper Chamber on all matters dealt with by Theresa May 's department .
Lord Bates said too many babies are born to immigrant mothers in the UK . Home Office minister said : 'That is why we need to reduce immigration ' He was criticised by Labour and Lib Dem ministers for his comments . In 2001 only 16 per cent of births in Britain were to foreign mothers . Now tens of thousands ' of children born in the UK have a mother from overseas .