Members of the ruling Labour Party in the United Kingdom have blocked attempts to outlaw marriage between first cousins, commonly seen among the country’s Muslim community. Member of Parliament (MP) Richard Holden, of the Conservative Party, stated that Labour blocked any further consideration of the bill to outlaw cousin marriage on Friday, January 17.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Holden said Labour blocked the legislation before it could even reach the committee stage and said the governing party is likely to block such legislation going forward. Holden thanked members of communities where cousin marriage is prevalent who supported him, saying “certain elements” of the establishment allow the practice to continue due to either fear of causing offense or fear of losing votes.
Cousin marriage is incredibly prevalent in the Pakistani community in Britain, with the BBC admitting that as many as 46 percent of newborns to Pakistani parents in the city of Bradford come from first cousin marriages.
Last month, Iqbal Mohamed, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dewsbury and Batley in Yorkshire, England, defended cousin marriage in the House of Commons, arguing the practice “helps build family bonds.”
Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) has also downplayed the risks of cousin marriages despite the known health risks associated with relatives having children together. The NHS trust covered Bradford claimed cousins having children is no more dangerous than White British women having children over the age of 34.
“[I]t is important to mention that just like a cousin marriage is a cultural practice in Asian/British Pakistanis heritage, resulting in increasing risk factors for congenital anomalies, so too is choosing to give birth at or after the age 34 in White British women/couples,” the NHS trust said.
However, cousin marriage appears to be significantly more dangerous, with children born to such couples in the city accounting for some 30 percent of birth defects, despite Pakistanis only accounting for around a quarter of the city’s population. Cousin marriage is also associated with lower IQ and higher rates of mood disorders and psychoses.
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