THE news that one-in four-births is to a mother born overseas gives us further reason to welcome George Osborne’s budget limiting child tax credit to two children.

It makes no sense paying foreigners to reproduce.

If we wanted more we could let in as many immigrants as we like, fully grown and educated, for free.

If we are to be a foreign labour economy (as our elite clearly intend) we could benefit ourselves, and the world, by becoming a permanent population sink.

The focus on foreign or migrant mothers does, however, seem to me to be unfortunate.

It arises because it is safer to speak about place of birth than ethnicity and easier to count mothers than fathers.

But the proportion of fathers who are foreign is unlikely to be lower and quite possibly is higher.

John Riseley, Harrogate.