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Arranged marriages under attack

10/02/2008

A government minister has called for debate about the acceptability of first-cousin marriages.

Environment minister Phil Woolas suggested last night change may have to be forced on Britain's immigrant Pakistani community.

The Oldham East and Saddleworth MP's comments came after research showed a stark disparity between birth defects among the general population and Pakistanis.

One in three Pakistani children are born with medical difficulties compared with three per cent overall.

"The issue we need to debate is first cousin marriages, whereby a lot of arranged marriages are with first cousins, and that produces lots of genetic problems in terms of disability," Mr Woolas said.

"If you talk to any primary care worker they will tell you that levels of disability among the… Pakistani population are higher than the general population. And everybody knows it's caused by first-cousin marriage.

"That's a cultural thing rather than a religious thing. It is not illegal in this country."

The former race relations minister's comments were supported by Labour MP Ann Cryer, who said the problem was linked to a "medieval culture" where money is kept "within the family".