Standards in a Birmingham school have been threatened by a massive increase in the number of children who speak poor English, the Minister in charge of immigration admitted.

Home Office Minister Liam Byrne, the Labour MP for Hodge Hill, yesterday said immigration had "unsettled" the country. And he used the example of a junior school in his own constituency, where the number of pupils with English as a second language increased from one in 20 to one in five.

Mr Byrne was placed in charge of reforming Britain's immigration system last year by John Reid, the Home Secretary.

He also announced further details of a new points-based system, designed to ensure only migrants with skills needed by employers are allowed to enter the UK.

Applicants will receive points based on criteria such as aptitude, experience and age.

The number of points needed to enter the United Kingdom will depend on the state of the economy and the needs of employers.

It will also be determined partly by the demands of "social cohesion", giving Ministers a method of reducing immigration when they fear public services are struggling.

The policy is similar to the widely-criticised proposals put forward by the Conservatives in the last General Election.

Mr Byrne made the comments in a pamphlet for the left-leaning think-tank Policy Network, due for publication later this month.

He said: "We also have to accept that laissez faire migration runs the risk of damaging communities where parts of our anti-poverty strategy come

under pressure. When a junior school - such as the school in Hodge Hill, my own constituency in Birmingham - sees its population of children with English as a second language rise from five per cent to 20 per cent in a year, then boosting standards in some of our poorest communities gets harder.

"It is true a small number of schools have struggled to cope, that some local authorities have reported problems of overcrowding in private housing and there have been cost pressures on English language training, but the answer is in action that is simultaneously firm and fair," he added.

Mr Byrne said immigration had helped the economy, and provided vital staff for the NHS.

But he added: "Here are a set of changes which have made Britain richer but which have deeply unsettled the country."

Surveys of public opinion revealed "a cynicism, a suspicion, and a distrust that these changes are working for them," he said.

Mr Byrne said: "It's not racist for Labour to debate immigration."

He was criticised by Habib Rahman, chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, who said people were driven to Britain due to poverty.

He said: "The Minister is mistaken in his belief that the needs of the British economy alone can control the rate of migration to our country.

"The movement of people is driven by huge gaps in international wealth, harsh international foreign and monetary policies, and the West's selfish use of the world's resources.

"These are helping to create political, economic and environmental exiles of large numbers of the world's population."

>> Read Mr Byrne's Perspective article for the Post