Angry backlash for 'Brits are bloody stupid' pro-immigration peer

A peer who claimed needs immigration because the natives are "so bloody stupid" has faced a furious backlash.

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, who wrote Article 50, the formal process for quitting the European Union, said the country needed an "injection of intelligent people" from outside.

But the comments provoked an angry response from Ukip and Tory politicians who accused the cross-bench peer of showing "contempt" for Britons.

David Campbell Bannerman, Conservative MEP for Eastern England, said: "Lord Kerr's utterly contemptuous views on his own people is hate crime and shows how dangerous EU fifth columnists are."

Tory former Cabinet minister Peter Lilley said Lord Kerr had shown "contempt" for the British people. "Imagine the outrage if someone had said 'immigrants are bloody stupid compared with native Brits'," he added.

Ukip London Assembly member Peter Whittle said the comments echoed the notorious incident where former prime minister Gordon Brown was caught describing a voter as a bigot.

"Just like Brown's 'bigot' comment, here is authentic self-hating voice of the establishment," he said.

Lord Kerr made the comments at a discussion hosted by the Institute for Government on the implications of Brexit and Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election.

The former ambassador to the EU and the US said he believed migration was a "good thing".

He said: "There's a much deeper argument to have - and that is whether immigration is good for you or bad for you. In my view, immigration is the thing which keeps this country running.

"We native Brits are so bloody stupid that we need an injection of intelligent people, young people from outside who come in and wake us up from time to time.