A NORTH-EAST expert has criticised the Tory Party's claims that the way to combat the pensions crisis is for people to have more babies.

The Conservatives yesterday urged British people to have more children, saying a high birth-rate was the answer to the pensions crisis, caused by more people living longer, and economic growth over the next 50 years.

Shadow work and pensions secretary David Willetts made his comments in London yesterday.

The North-East has the lowest birth-rate in England at an average of 1.58 children per woman, compared to the national average of 1.63 children.

But Professor Tom Kirkwood, of the University of Newcastle's School of Medicine, said last night that the answer to the imbalance of generations was not as simple as having more children.

He said: "I think it is a rather short-sighted view.

"There is good reason to re-examine the issue of retirement.

"We need to look at what the longevity revolution - and it is a revolution - is telling us about how we need to progress in relation to the contribution of older people to society.

"Simply to go back to saying have more babies and the problem will be solved is a rather regressive way of looking at it."

Prof Kirkwood, a member of the University's Institute for Ageing and Health, said childcare problems, which could put working parents off having children, also needed to be addressed.

In his speech, Mr Willets said if British people did not have more children, the effects could have disastrous implications for the economy.

He said: "The problem is that there are not enough young workers coming along.

"After the baby boom of the 1950s, we have had the baby bust. Europe's real demographic crisis is not longevity, but birth-rates."