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Conservative former minister, Richard Holden, has called for first-cousin marriage to be outlawed in the UK due to the increased risk of birth defects in the children of such unions. Introducing the proposals in Parliament, Holden stated that the genetic risk was higher for the children of first cousins and that the ban would ensure public health is protected. Such legislation is unlikely to become law without government backing, however, because of limited parliamentary time.
Currently, UK law prohibits marriages to a parent, sibling, or child, but not between first cousins. Holden’s proposals have been put forward using the 10-minute rule, where a backbench MP is permitted to propose new legislation during a Commons speech of up to ten minutes. Iqbal Mohamed, an independent MP, argued against the ban, stating that it would be ineffective. Instead, Mohamed called for educational programmes to highlight the risks associated with first-cousin marriages.
Downing Street has indicated that although health risks associated with such unions are clear, the government has no current intentions of changing existing legislation. Holden argued that this practice impacts women’s freedom and is unsuitable for modern-day British society. He cited research which posits that the overall prevalence of first-cousin marriage in Western countries is low but that Irish Traveller and British Pakistani diaspora communities have “extremely high rates” of 20-40%.
Mohamed agreed that there were underlying health risks to such unions and that forced marriages must be prevented. However, instead of banning adult cousins from marrying one another, he believes that facilitating advanced genetic test screening and health education programmes targeting communities where the practice is common would be more useful
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