“Cousin marriage is incest, plain and simple"
The NHS has been urged to apologise after publishing guidance promoting first-cousin marriage despite known health risks.
Guidance published last week by NHS England’s Genomics Education Programme claims first-cousin marriage can offer “stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages”.
A Born in Bradford study found that 46% of mothers in three inner-city Bradford wards married a first or second cousin.
Nearly two in five (39%) of British Pakistanis and Bangladeshis believe cousin marriage should be legal, though 47% say it should be prohibited.
The practice has been linked to a greater prevalence of disorders such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease.
Figures show that up to 20% of children treated for congenital problems in cities such as Sheffield, Glasgow, and Birmingham are of Pakistani descent, compared with 4% or lower in the wider population. Treating these conditions costs the NHS billions.
Critics highlight the practice’s links to the oppression of women and increased risk of genetic diseases in children.
Conservative Party MP Richard Holden told the Mail On Sunday:
“Our NHS should stop taking the knee to damaging and oppressive cultural practices.
“The Conservatives want to see an end to cousin marriage as a backdoor to immigration too, but Labour are deaf to these sensible demands.
“Sir Keir Starmer should stop running scared of the misogynistic community controllers and their quislings who appear in the form of cultural relativist-obsessed sociology professors, and ban a practice the overwhelming majority, from every community in Britain, want to see ended for good.”
While legal in the UK, marrying a first cousin increases the likelihood of children inheriting disorders.
Cultures that encourage cousin marriage have also been accused of suppressing women’s freedoms.
Dr Patrick Nash, an expert on religious law and director of the Pharos Foundation social science research group in Oxford, said:
“Cousin marriage is incest, plain and simple, and needs to be banned with the utmost urgency – there is no ‘balance’ to be struck between this cultural lifestyle choice and the severe public health implications it incurs.
“This official article is deeply misleading and should be retracted with an apology so that the public is not misled by omission and half-truths.”
Aneeta Prem MBE, founder of the Freedom Charity, which campaigns against forced marriage and ‘dishonour’ based violence, also criticised the article:
“First cousin marriage is not just a cultural tradition; it is a safeguarding risk.
“At Freedom Charity, we have seen how it is tied to dishonour abuse, where young people are pressured from childhood and given little or no real choice.
“The health evidence is clear.
“These are preventable harms that place families and the NHS under immense pressure.”
“This is about protecting rights, not targeting communities.”
The NHS guidance said cousin marriage has been legal in the UK since the 1500s, originally allowing King Henry VIII to marry his ex-wife’s cousin, Catherine Howard.
It adds that marriage between cousins “has long been the subject of scientific discussion” due to the slight increase in risk of inheriting disease.
Other factors, including alcohol, smoking, and parental age, are also cited as raising health risks, “none of which are banned in the UK”.
An NHS England spokesman said: “The article published on the website of the Genomics Education Programme is a summary of existing scientific research and the public policy debate. It is not expressing an NHS view.”
Amid the criticism, the guidance has since been removed.
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