I was forced to marry my cousin - it’s normal in my culture, but SO WRONG
Daily Mail, 12th February 2008
[N.B. See below re UK Environment Minister called to resign by Muslim leaders after warning about in-breeding.]
These days Khaleda Begum, 25, hardly leaves the confines of her one-bedroom flat.And when she does, her heart thumps and she looks over her shoulder in terror. For, in the eyes of her Muslim family, Khaleda has done the unthinkable.
Disgusted by her arranged marriage to a cousin - a suitor found for her by her father - she has fled her family home and now, fearful of reprisals, lives under police protection.
Khaleda’s story makes shocking reading for anyone who is under the misguided belief that such marriages do not regularly go on in Britain today.
For Khaleda, who was born in Britain and took GCSEs and A-levels at her British school in the hope of becoming a teacher in this country, was forced by her father to go to Pakistan and marry his cousin - a man 20 years her senior, who spoke no English and whom she had never even met.
And according to Khaleda - who today, having escaped “the marriage from hell,” lives in hiding with her British partner, Phil - she is far from alone.
She says: “Virtually every Asian girl I have ever met has an arranged marriage and the vast majority of them are to their cousins.
“It is well known within the community that such marriages do produce deformed babies. No one talks about it, but it is one of the reasons why I found such a marriage to someone so closely related to myself to be so very repugnant.
“Just before I was forced to marry I heard of one of my cousins who’d been forced to marry her auntie’s son.
“They had a baby daughter who died and when they asked doctors why, they were told it was because of inter-breeding. They were told the parents were too closely related to have a normal baby.
“And this was just one of many instances I would hear of. Anyone who thinks it doesn’t happen is in denial. As I know from the most painful and personal experience, it is barbaric and unnatural.
“Marrying someone who is related to you - and being forced to do so - goes against all your natural urges. It is not racist to tell the truth. What I cannot understand is why it is allowed to go on in this country at all.”
Khaleda’s parents, Miryam and Khalid, came to Britain from Pakistan in the mid-1960s in search of work and a better way of life. The couple already had two sons, now aged 39 and 35, when they settled in a three-bedroom terraced house in the West Midlands near Khalid’s job in a steel foundry.
A third son, now 25, followed, before their much-wanted daughter, Khaleda, was born.
“I had a happy childhood. I was especially close to my mother and, until my wedding, I shared a bedroom with her,” she says.
“I loved it - we would spend hours talking, especially at night. I was the ideal Muslim daughter - I wore traditional Asian clothes and always helped with the housework.”
Many of Khaleda’s extended family lived nearby and weekends were often filled with family parties, some of them wedding celebrations.
“I was about eight when I remember the first ceremony I went to,” says Khaleda.
“I remember thinking how beautiful the bride’s dress was and I looked forward to having my own husband and family.
“But as I grew older I began to understand that any husband would be chosen for me. It was something I found extremely worrying. My mother’s marriage was arranged but my father was cold and dominant, and it wasn’t happy.
“When I was about 12, I remember saying: ‘You won’t make me have an arranged marriage, will you?’ I’d begun to realise that many Asian women were forced to marry, even forced to marry their cousins.
“The thought of marrying someone I didn’t know, and someone who was related to me, was disgusting.”
Yet, as Khaleda reached her teens her father became stricter.
“I went to local state schools but unlike friends who went to parties and clubs, I knew that wasn’t our way. It didn’t bother me - I accepted our culture was different.
“Instead, I concentrated on my studies - I was in the top set for virtually every subject and enjoyed family parties at weekends.”
Having gained nine GCSEs with top grades, Khaleda left school at 16 to go to college to do A-levels in English literature, Urdu and computing. Later, aged 19, she began courses in book-keeping and childcare.
“By now my father had begun talking about when I would be married and I realised that was my fate. I tried not to dwell on it but I purposely didn’t even bother with meeting boys as I knew it was pointless.”
Khaleda concentrated on her ambition to become a teacher, finding a job in telesales to fund herself through college. It was around this time that she met Phil Williams, a delivery driver.
“Phil lived down the road,” she recalls. “I used to see him when I popped to the shops or walked to the bus stop.
“At first we just nodded hello. I used to keep my head down - he looked so lovely but I knew it couldn’t go any further.”
However, after two months the pair began talking and Khaleda found herself falling for Phil.
“He was so quiet and I just liked him so much,” she says. “I used to see him when I went to college or sneak around to his house, telling my parents I was seeing a friend. I even bought a mobile phone - something my parents had forbidden - so I could speak to him secretly at home.”
Life seemed fantastic. Adds Khaleda: “I had met Phil and also adored earning my own money and being independent. Within two months of working I’d been promoted to a junior managerial role.
“However, one day when I came home my father was waiting for me at the front door. As I went in he said I wasn’t to go to work any more. Apparently some family members told him it could bring shame on the family and that a woman’s place was in the home. I was devastated.”
From then Khaleda was hardly allowed out of her room. Ominously, letters marked “private” began arriving from Pakistan addressed to her father.
“I knew something was happening,” she says. “I would regularly hear my father on the phone speaking in Urdu in muffled tones. I worked out the letters were from his family in Pakistan, discussing my forthcoming marriage.
“I was terrified that my worst nightmare was coming true. No one spoke to me about it at all but at night, when everyone thought I was asleep, I’d hear my parents arguing about whether I should have an arranged marriage.
“I even used to hear my brothers rowing with my father about it. I would lie crying in bed, hearing them shout they didn’t want me to be forced into marriage. But my father didn’t listen to anyone.”
Worse, was Khaleda’s father’s choice of groom. “Haram, my husband-to-be, was my father’s cousin and about 20 years older than me.
“My brothers nicknamed him Fatso because he was so overweight. As he spoke no English and had always lived in Pakistan, his life was a world away from mine and I couldn’t imagine how my father could have matched me with him.
“By now, Phil and I were very much in love. We regularly met in secret and I saw my future with him, not with some ugly man who I’d never even met.
“I told my mother I couldn’t have an arranged marriage but she said I had no choice. I had no one to turn to. I knew then that refusing to get married would bring enormous shame on my family and that if I did, I may live in fear of reprisals from my family for the rest of my life.”
A date was set for Khaleda’s £25,000 wedding in Pakistan in December 2004 and preparations began in earnest with enormous shopping sprees to buy the ornate clothes, jewellery, decorations and food for the ceremony.
The celebrations, including dancing and singing, would last for two weeks.
“Almost immediately family members visited with gifts and greetings,” she says, “but I couldn’t stop crying. I was still seeing Phil and, when I told him, he was completely shocked. Like me, he couldn’t believe such a thing was happening.”
Four weeks later, the whole family flew to Pakistan for the ceremony. “My parents had a house there but once I was married, it was expected that I would go to live with his family,” she says.
“Haram had a large family of eight crammed into a tiny two-bedroom house, so there would be no privacy. I felt as if my whole life was ending.”
On the day of the ceremony, held at the family home, a priest arrived. Khaleda, adorned in a gold wedding dress and surrounded by family and friends, sat with her husband beside her, choking back sobs. She had only ever seen him from a distance before.
“I couldn’t look at him,” she recalls. “I didn’t want to speak to him. As a little girl I’d always dreamed of a perfect wedding day. The sick reality was I was marrying a relative. It was a nightmare.
“After the ceremony I sat on a bed in his home that was decorated with petals for our wedding night. Haram locked the door and began to touch my face and take my jewellery off. His hands made me feel nauseous.
I kept brushing them away, repeating ‘no.’ Tears rolled down my cheeks and, even now, I cannot talk of that night as it totally disgusts me.”
The following day Khaleda could take no more, running back to her mother - but she was furious.
“She told me I was married and I would just have to get on with it,” she says, “I was distraught and felt so betrayed. I couldn’t believe how my parents could have done this to me.”
For the next four weeks Khaleda lived with Haram and his family. During this time she regularly texted and rang Phil. Eventually, she was sent back to the UK, to find work. Haram would follow once he’d received his visa.
As soon as the plane touched down at Manchester Airport, Khaleda ran into a waiting Phil’s arms.
“Seeing Phil again made me realise how much I loved him. I knew then we could never be apart again,” she says.
Within four months the rest of Khaleda’s family and Haram had come back to the UK, living again in the three-bedroom house. Haram was expected to share the bedroom with Khaleda but she made excuses and always ensured she slept on the sofa.
“My worst nightmare was that I would get pregnant,” she says. “But it wasn’t only the thought of having a baby with Haram that revolted me, I was simply terrified that any baby would be terribly deformed or even stillborn.”
Research has shown that babies born to cousins are twice as likely to suffer a birth defect than one born to a couple who are not related. While the risk is lowered if someone marries their father’s cousin, it is still “reasonably high,” an expert said.
So Khaleda refused to sleep with her husband and her whole family refused to speak to her.
“Then one day, about six months after we married, I went to my bedroom to get changed to find Haram lying on my bed,” she says, “I just looked at him and realised I couldn’t go on living like this, desperately unhappy, as an unwelcome stranger in my own home.”
The following day, when everyone was out, Khaleda plotted her escape.
“There wasn’t time to pack,” she explains, “so I quickly gathered up just my passport and a small make-up bag. Then, I took a few photos as mementoes of my family and walked out.”
Khaleda knew her family would report her missing so she fled to London, staying with a friend of Phil’s. A few days later the couple flew to France, staying in cheap hotels, and later with friends abroad, for three months.
When she came back to the UK, she found she was listed as a missing person and the police wanted to speak to her.
Once she explained her plight they put her in touch with IKWRO, an organisation that helps women in such situations, and it helped her and Phil find safe accommodation.
“But then a relative, a distant cousin, told Phil in March last year that my mother was seriously ill and had been asking for me,” she says.
Worried her mum would die and she’d never see her again, Khaleda went back home with a police escort, only to find her mother was well.
“It was just a trick to get me to come back,” she says. “This time I told them I was leaving and I wasn’t coming back at all. I haven’t heard from my family since and I have to accept that I won’t ever see them again.”
Khaleda went into hiding in London. Since then a friend of Phil’s has been threatened by thugs, who said they’d put a gun to his head because he wouldn’t reveal the couple’s whereabouts.
Consequently, today, they live under police protection, their flat alarmed to alert the local police station.
“While I know I made the right decision to leave, I have lost all my confidence and I am frightened that a relative will see me and find out where I am, and there could be reprisals,” she says.
“Sometimes I just sit and cry and I’ve since been prescribed anti-depressants by my GP.
“I feel so guilty at the shame I know my family has suffered and not a day goes by when I don’t wonder how my mother is. I miss them so much.
“Even as a Muslim I have no idea why families want to intermarry like this. I can only think it is to keep wealth within the family. But unless this practice is outlawed, more young Muslim women like me will have their lives ruined.”
Sadly, Khaleda’s future is far from clear. She longs to marry Phil but is still legally wed to Haram.
“I desperately want a divorce but I am too frightened to make contact,” she says. “And as for my career, well, I am too scared even to pursue my dream as a teacher.”
And so another young Muslim woman’s life is ruined by this outdated practice. Just how many more babies will have to be born deformed, or even dead, before it is finally stopped?
15 people have commented on this story so far.
What a selfish woman, granted her family is outdated and domineering but you will notice she did not once tell Phil what was going on or even tell the other man that her heart lay with another. She is as guilty as her family in ruining her life.
- Rss, London, UK
I just cannot believe that parents who, supposedly love their children, would be so inhumane as to force a child of theirs into a marriage that the child did not want. To me they are simply unspeakable.
- Denise B, Oldbury, UK
To the best of my recollection, under British law, a marriage is null and void if one or both of the parties was coerced into the marriage. Surely she should be able to have it annulled under such circumstances?
- Rose, Co Cork, Ireland
Khaleda, Your Phil is a ‘true’ man. Good luck to you both. Your father’s beliefs are shocking.
- Sandie, Blackpool, Lancashire
She shouldn’t feel shame over this - her family should feel shame about what they’ve done to her. They forced her into a marriage she didn’t want, where any marital relations are essentially rape.
Forced arranged marriages should be outlawed - and marriages between relatives should be forbidden. Perhaps the government should think about adopting the pre-marriage blood test.
- Diana, Edinburgh, UK
It’s brave of her to allow her picture to be taken, knowing that being identified could lead to reprisals.
Forced marriage should be stopped.
- Steve, Wales
It’s bad enough allowing the birth defects with your NHS in the state it is in but the country doing nothing about forced marriages is beyond the pale.
Why are Muslims allowed to be treated differently from all others in our country?
- Lynne, UK
And the Archbishop of Canterbury wants Sharia law instated… How about the country first works on preventing horror stories like these?
Khaleda, you are so beautiful and so brave- keep strong.
- Mary A., UK
This is tragic. Are all Muslim men so narrow-minded and cruel? I never hear about love, affection or compassion concerning these people. It’s all about control and duty… being shamed, etc. I feel SO lucky not to have been born into one of these families.
- Tracy, UK
Khaleda, I so admire you for speaking out. You are exactly the kind of person our political establishment (and Christian for that matter) should support and protect and not kowtow to an outdated, inhumane set of laws.
- A Vanaalst, UK
This practice has nothing to do with religion, and is part of the culture. Time for change.
- Aisha, UK
It is unfathomable how this still goes on. Britain should be proud of its part in Western Civilization and its culture, which is why it is modern and prosperous.
There is no reason to put up with these cultural relics from a pre-medieval society. They just want to turn the UK into Pakistan North. British Culture is why it is a good place to live, Pakistani culture is why that place is where people emigrate from.
If these people do not want to play a part in the culture of the UK, and the west, then they should go to countries where that culture is the normal, and deal with the reality that accompanies it.
- Ron Chambless, UK
Why is a forced wedding in another country legal in the UK? She didn’t consent, why is it legal?
- Thalia, London
I feel bad for this women. But I feel she made the right choice by leaving. Such a beautiful women with a bright future.
- Davanh, UK
IT really is sick this carry on. They should be questioned, when they arrive in Britain how they are going to treat there sons and daughters, and if they persist that this is how they will behave, then they must be denied entry to Britain.
- Barbara Harris, UK
* * * * *
Downing Street rebuke for minister who warned of birth defects in Pakistani cousin marriages
Phil Woolas: Could be fired for comments on IslamMinister Phil Woolas was rebuked by Downing Street yesterday for warning that British Pakistanis are fuelling rates of birth defects by marrying their cousins.The Environment Minister faced calls to resign by some Muslim leaders after he said marriage of blood relations was the “elephant in the room”.
However, according to Gordon Brown’s spokesman, the issue was not one for ministers to comment on. Instead, he said, it should be addressed by members of the local community and scientific experts.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said Mr Woolas, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, had been speaking in his capacity as a constituency MP.
“The Government’s position is we believe these matters are best addressed locally, by local members of the community as well as by professional healthcare advisers,” he added.
“This is a scientific debate. It is really for scientific experts to comment on.”
Mr Woolas insisted that he had a duty to raise the subject of cousin marriage - which is legal in the UK - based on cultural and not religious grounds.
He was backed by fellow Labour MP Ann Cryer, who represents Keighley, West Yorkshire.
She warned that parts of the Pakistani community are in denial about soaring rates of genetic defects among children born to first-cousin marriages.
Mrs Cryer said as many as eight out of ten transcontinental marriages in Bradford were between cousins and could have “tragic” impacts.
She first raised the issue more than two years ago after research showed British Pakistanis were 13 times more likely to have children with recessive disorders than the general population.
On Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday, she said: “The vast majority of marriages in the Muslim community in Bradford, 80 per cent, are transcontinental.
“The vast majority of those are to cousins. Many of those do result in either infant mortality or in recessive disorders.”
Asked if the problem was recognised in the British Pakistani community, she said: “They are in denial. But I am hoping that now we have broken the silence, leaders will start to have a debate about it and perhaps even give advice and say ‘Look you can carry on marrying your cousins, but there is a price to pay’.
“The price to pay is often in either babies being born dead, babies being born very early and babies being born with very severe genetically transmitted disorders.
“This is a blight on that community, but particularly on specific families.”
Steve Jones, professor of genetics at University College London, backed the calls to raise public awareness. He said, in general, mortality and disability almost doubled among marriages between cousins.
But he warned that the risks should not be overstated, adding: “Let’s bear in mind that families like the Rothschilds married their cousins frequently.
“In Bradford, the Office of National Statistics says there is an increase of about five or so infant deaths a year because of cousin marriage, particularly among the Asian community there.
“There are something like 70 infant deaths altogether in Bradford per year, so the effect isn’t that great.” [Oh, well then... - Akira]
He said smoking and drinking alcohol during pregnancy is “as bad if not worse”.
Professor Jones added that cousin marriages are quite common in Spain [which was Muslim-dominated for half a millennium, and is on it's way back in time - Akira] and are still common in Muslim communities around the world.
But he said: “Among Hindu communities, quite often you get an uncle-niece marriage - marrying your brother’s daughter.
“That is even closer inbreeding than cousin marriage, so it is not by any means a uniquely Islamic issue.”
74 people have commented on this story so far.
Everyone knew there would be calls for this man to be sacked.
- Pat Sweeney, Lanark
- Tom, Aylesbury
It applies to anyone not just Muslims.
- Anne, North Yorkshire
Sadly he will most probably be sacked for speaking facts.
How shameful.
What a country!
- John Cird, Southport, UK
What a great country we live in. Tell what is more than likely the truth, and there are calls for you to be sacked.
- Steve P N, Leeds, West Yorkshire
- Alicia, Dallas, USA
Why should he have to resign?
- A Walker, Bradford
Why is it that whenever a minority is criticised-they claim it’s racist or in this case ‘racist and Islamophobic’? It isn’t either of those things, it is simply criticism and justified criticism at that. I’m sick of seeing the race or victim card being played by different groups so as they can get out of answering to criticisms levelled against them - no wonder we can never solve any problems.
- John Prenton, London, England
So why should you resign for saying something you believe to be true?
- Pauline, Bolton
Before we have all these claims for his resignation, shouldn’t we have the medical facts examined?
- Sid, Cornwall
I guess “stop Muslims from inbreeding” is a nice controversial subject that diverts attention from the fact that Parliament is barely discussing the Lisbon Treaty. Just as Labour’s spin-doctors hoped.
Good days to bury bad news.
- Mike, Brighton Marina, England
No amount of indignation from ignorant, politically correct zealots can alter scientific truth.
Galileo understood that very well.
- Herbert Thornton, Victoria, Canada
Ha ha, it’s started already.
He should know, there’s no place for honesty within the Labour ranks.
Everyone knows that you shouldn’t have kids with relatives.
- Dino Fancellu, Epsom
Leave the MP alone, he is absolutely correct and should be applauded. I am a Muslim and have seen this widespread problem of birth defects amongst first cousins in my community and elsewhere (Pakistan). IT IS a problem and marriages between close relatives should be discouraged. Well done Mr Woolas for speaking out. There is nothing racist or anything else about this matter. The Muslim Public Affairs Cttee - shut up!
- Mrs N Khan, Lancs
He is not being racist. He is stating facts. The chance of defects would be the same with anyone having children with their first cousin. And doing it generation after generation will only make it worse. That community is being more racist than he is. In the end the children suffer.
- Julia Conner, Alabama, USA
The man has a point. Ever thought of moving to Alabama?
- Ross, Scotland
The bottom line is Phil Woolas has stated medical fact - it’s a shame it offends some people who think marrying first cousins is right and proper but you just cannot deny medical fact.
- Michael, Manchester
At last a Labour MP who knows what he is talking about.
- Peter Woods, Indang Philippines
I hold no “candle” for Nu Labour but since when has speaking the truth been a sacking offence? The indigenous population of these islands already knew of the likelihood of birth “defects” when close blood relations - like cousins - marry. Those communities most affected should take note and act accordingly.
- Richard, Harrow, England
The punishment for going off message and telling the truth is a sure sign of a NU Labour career ending!
- Stephen, Canada
Look, if you are going to talk about denying overweight people healthcare, or smokers, you can certainly talk about this.
- Camille, USA
What a sad country when the truth isn’t acceptable.
- Jay, Croydon, Surrey
This is yet another example of how ridiculous this country has become.
- L Gamston, Rotherham, UK
It didn’t take long for the old cry, “islamophobic” to be screamed.
- Duke, Ontario, Canada
I wish there were more like him!
- Pommy Alan, Brisbane, Australia
This needs proper investigation, including how these children are cared for in the countries where most of the families come from. If these children constitute one third of UK births with genetic defects and 10% of births in cousin marriages have severe disabilities, then it is a massive scandal and inexcusable in educated, western society.
- Penny, London
He’s simply pointing out a fact. Why should he resign because of that?
- Joanna, Dubai
- Danny Cooper, Bangkok
Why should he resign? He was speaking factually. Having kids with first cousins is going to produce birth defects - FACT!
- Haddock, Marburg, Germany
“Labour MP in Truth-Telling Shock. Demands for Resignation”.
- John, Manchester, UK
Well said Mr Phil! Call it what you like but it is a proven fact; end of story. Come on boys, get off the ‘racist’ wagon, it is indisputable!
- Trevor Mortimer, Perth, Scotland
If this statement is true then he should be applauded for bringing this to light, not sweeping it under the carpet.
- Paul, England
Is it accurate that first cousin marriages increase defects? If yes, what is racist about the comment and why should someone resign for bringing this health problem to attention?
How stupid that we now can’t talk about facts in the UK.
- Colin Budgen, Manchester
Either what he said is true and can be proved or it is false. If true, it will have an effect on the NHS so the minister must deal with it. Only if the facts show he is wrong should there be a need for resignation - but, of course, Brown will support him!
- John Neal, Crete Greece
If this risk is high and the facts are as clear as this MP states, then more power to him.
- Roger, NRW, Germany
Can people express opinions and tell a few truths in this country any more?
- Pazi, UK
Great. An MP states the obvious. And now he’s supposed to resign?
- John, France
The predictable knee-jerk backlash. The fact that he may be speaking the truth is neither here nor there, of course.
- David Bourke, Rochester, England
Never tell the truth - he should have known that.
- F T D P, Spain
Everyone’s too scared of offending Muslims nowadays.
- Alex, Topsham, Exeter
Mr Mahmood should count himself to be very fortunate indeed to be an MP in our country. He should learn to keep his thoughts to himself on a sensitive topic which primarily affects the British taxpayer.
- Ger, London, England
What’s wrong about proven facts? He is merely pointing out the medical statistics. Why should he have to tiptoe around the issue, just because the facts and truth are not palatable to those who are of the Muslim faith? Sometimes the truth has to be heard in black and white terms to educate those less in the know.
- Sharon, Essex UK
Why is it that anyone in parliament that dares to speak the truth is immediately called on to resign. He’s only expressing an opinion after all. Isn’t there something about the truth hurting?
- Olderbird, Northants
That’s right - kick out the truth sayers. We can’t have the truth being told can we? It might offend a certain group of people.
- Alison Lee, Reading
Why sack someone who states verifiable facts? What he claims is true, supported by medical science. Of course, it is not very PC so he must resign? It’s nonsense like this that has got Britain into No1 as the laughing stock of the world.
It’s true, it’s a fact, it’s verifiable and it’s a problem. It should be addressed.
- Antonio, Aylesbury, UK
Here’s the facts, make up your own mind….
- 55% of Britain’s Pakistanis marry first cousins.
- Muslims make up 3% of Britain’s population.
- Muslims account for a THIRD of all birth defects.
- First cousins have a 13x greater chance of having a kid with birth defects, than non first cousins.
The only thing this guy is guilty of, is stating the bleeding obvious.
Marrying first cousins should be made illegal - as it is throughout the civilised world.
It’s time to stop kowtowing to the mediaeval wants of this cult. Shape up or ship out.
- Archie, Gourock
When was the last time Muslims didn’t make the headlines? Mr Woolas it would appear is intent on political suicide. He broke the eleventh commandment, don’t criticize Muslims.
- Julie Goodwin, Chesterfield UK
Silly man, he should have remembered all the PC training he has been on.
It doesn’t matter if it is the truth, like many other “related” topics in this area, you have to ignore the fact to placate the minority and liberal thinkers.
- Gel, Nr Wantage
Why is it that people cannot speak the truth without being branded racist? Research has shown that genetic defects occur in children born to blood relations, and that this is a common occurrence in these communities. What are we supposed to do? Ignore the research or modify it to suit some leftist fluffy PC agenda? It’s about time these people grew up and accepted the facts, not bury their heads in the sand because it doesn’t suit their version of the world.
- Mike, Bahrain (expat)
Make a statement and get the sack, nu Labour policy.
- Bill, Grimsby England
Well I never who’d have guessed that? Speak the truth and lose your job, just like the Canterbury Bishop.
- Old Sweat, Salisbury UK
I think that Mr Woolas is telling the truth, so why is he being accused? It is already “taboo”, in this country, for all this inter marriage. Why are we giving in to all this now.
- Geoff Stringer, Southend-on-Sea, Essex UK
Why is he being forced to resign? He was only speaking the truth. I for one am fed up to the back teeth with multi cultural people thinking they are above our laws. If they don’t like that, they know what they can do about it!
- Mj, UK
Woolas is called ”Woolly” in political circles.
- F Cockburn, London UK
Kick out the M.P.’s who tell the truth?- no wonder we have so many in our “new Labour” Government that are liars, unable to kick them out whatever they say. Still awaiting the promised referendum, remember the weapons of mass destruction,
education-education–education, mixed wards in hospitals will be phased out, one could write a massive book of lies from this Government -did I say Government?
- Rob Baker, Chichester. England
Why is it that when ministers tell the truth there is a higher probability that they will be made to resign than when they lie!
- Tony, UK
I have personal experience of this, after being with my ex a Turkish Kurd for over 2 years, he let slip that both his sister and brother married their first cousins.
This apparently has been happening for many generations, to say this is only common in families from rural Pakistan is an huge understatement, I really do not see the problem with bringing this issue to light. My ex knew this was not right but it was just they way things were, his family are from central Turkey, and are very tribal, and marriages between his cousins are still happening. I cannot see how a marriage between first cousins can be deemed healthy.
- Anon, Haslemere Surrey
If you ignore the problem it may go away. Or it could get worse. But you must not talk about race, if you do you are a racist. Which neatly stops debate.
- Ray, UK
Pathetic example of kowtowing to Muslims - he’s quite probably right in his assessment.
- Kim, Hampshire UK
Unbelievable how the Muslim bleeding heart industry sweeps into action. Maybe the MP is right and there is a problem. It can hardly be considered anti anything if an issue is there, it needs to be addressed, ignoring it would be anti Muslim.
- David Fahn, London England
The figures speak for themselves. Marrying the odd cousin here and there causes no problems, but constant cousin marrying cousin as is practised by Pakistanis does cause problems. Look around the wards, with less than 10% of people in this country from ethnic minorities over 30% of the genetic defects are within this groups.
- John Sinclair, Dundee, UK
You are not going to change millennia of cultural make up because of a known scientific fact. The young will eventually break free, and should be encouraged to do so but it will take another 2 generations at least to break the idea of ‘marring a cousin is good for the family’ and that ‘family know best’.
- Mike, UK
Once again; a minister who speaks the truth is asked to resign.
- Sam, Birmingham
So now one is penalised for speaking the truth.
- Deborah, France
He’s telling the truth and the only people guilty of Islamaphobia are those who want it covered up.
- Eddie Storey, Doncaster, England
It is a sensitive area of discussion, but cannot be dismissed as islamaphobia if the statistics are proved to be true. If not true, then Phil Woolas needs to seriously question his sources.
- Karen, Midlands England
For once a Labour MP speaks the truth! - of course there is a risk of birth defects with inbreeding, which has been well-researched and well-proven.
- M, Forres
This man speaks the truth, having lived in the middle east for 10 years, I saw a huge amount of birth defects caused by this reason alone - The UK NHS system is crippled at the moment, how on earth is it going to continue with further unnecessary burdens put upon it?
- Claire Lomax, Brunnen, Switzerland
I wonder how longer it would be before an attempt would be made to silence him. Nu Labour have only themselves to blame - as far as I am concerned the whole disgusting government should resign.
- Patrick, Hedge End, Hampshire
NULabour’s legacy … sack the Minister who tells the truth.
- David, Tenerife
What we need are more MP’s willing to stand up and say it like it is.
- Norm, Newcastle UK
Why shouldn’t an M.P. make a statement on such a subject, especially as most medical authorities will warn against marrying first cousins. I would support him all the way, I know what he is talking about as my Mum and Dad were first cousins.
- Bruce, Cambs.
Plain language is better than spin.
- T.B, Nottingham, England
Mr Woolas is right in bringing this issue into the spotlight, not everyone is aware of the risks of marrying cousins.
- Mr Max Buckley, Oldham, Lancs
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