John Kerrsaid that Britain needed "an injection of intelligent people, young people from outside who come in and wake us up" | Phillipe Hugen/ AFP via Getty Article 50 author: Brits are ‘bloody stupid’ Immigration is what keeps the country running, says pro-EU Lord.

The U.K. needs to keep its borders open because Brits are "so bloody stupid," according to a pro-European member of the House of Lords.

John Kerr told an event organized by a civil service think tank that Britain needed "an injection of intelligent people, young people from outside who come in and wake us up from time to time," the Telegraph reported Friday.

"There’s a much deeper argument to have — and that is about whether immigration is good for you or bad for you," said Lord Kerr, who co-wrote Article 50, the legal mechanism by which Britain will leave the EU. "In my view, immigration is the thing that keeps this country running."

Euroskeptic Tory MP Peter Lilley walked out of the event in protest. He considered reporting Lord Kerr for hate speech, he told the Daily Mail, but said he does not believe in prosecuting people for their opinions, "however odious."

"I think these comments have revealed the contempt that some Eurocrats like Lord Kerr have for ordinary British people," Lilley said.