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  "path": "/politics/cousin-marriage-ban-conservatives-kemi-badenoch",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-30T21:20:25.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "£44,962-a-year role for an Urdu-speaking nurse to support cousins having children together.",
    "Rural Labour MPs 'level playing field' plan for farmers blasted as ‘smokescreen’ despite defying PM",
    "Keir Starmer braces for Channel crossing nightmare as migrant deal with France set to end in hours",
    "Kemi Badenoch's move towards banning cousin marriage applauded by Richard Holden",
    "Speaking to GB News,",
    "accused of backing cousin marriage",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nThe Conservatives are mulling proposals to ban cousin marriage in the UK in a bid to enhance “social cohesion” across the country.\n\nTory leader Kemi Badenoch announced that the practice, which occurs frequently within certain British Pakistani communities, is \"reinforcing separatism\".\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMarrying a first cousin remains legal in the UK, but the once-uncommon custom has become increasingly prominent following successive waves of immigration from the subcontinent.\n\nData from several inner-city Bradford wards revealed that nearly half of Pakistani mothers are wed to first or second cousins.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMedical experts have linked consanguineous marriages to elevated risks of congenital abnormalities and hereditary disorders, including cystic fibrosis.\n\nThe NHS has previously stated that worries about genetic diseases are \"unwarranted\" given that \"85 to 90 per cent... do not have affected children.\"\n\nLast month, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust advertised a £44,962-a-year role for an Urdu-speaking nurse to support cousins having children together.\n\nAgainst that backdrop, the Conservatives have launched a \"culture and integration\" review to develop policies for the upcoming general election.\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"British culture and British values matter,\" Mrs Badenoch stressed.\n\nPromoting the review, she declared: \"We need social cohesion and integration.\"\n\nThe Tory leader insisted that: “We can't have people separating into their own communities.”\n\n“And we want to do a huge piece of work that will come up with the best policies that will ensure that we can bring people together,\" she told Sky News.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Rural Labour MPs 'level playing field' plan for farmers blasted as ‘smokescreen’ despite defying PM\n  * Keir Starmer braces for Channel crossing nightmare as migrant deal with France set to end in hours\n  * Kemi Badenoch's move towards banning cousin marriage applauded by Richard Holden\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTory MP Richard Holden, who put forward legislation to outlaw the practice in 2024, expressed support for the policy on both medical and societal grounds.\n\nSpeaking to GB News, the Shadow Transport Secretary said: \"It's something I've been campaigning for for some time, and it builds on work I did in the last parliament to ban virginity testing and so-called hymenoplasty as well, more things which marginalise and attack women.\"\n\n\"And this is a really important move today, I think Kemi has been very supportive of this for some time.\n\n\"The fact that she's come out now and really thrown her weight behind me on this cause is really important,\" he said.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe Conservatives’ review will additionally examine whether to prohibit burkas and other face coverings such as the niqab, with Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp and justice spokesman Nick Timothy reportedly backing such measures.\n\nHowever, Mrs Badenoch expressed doubt about the practicality of enforcement, pointing to stretched police resources.\n\n\"I've seen that done in France. I'm sceptical about whether it can work... I'm concerned we don't have enough police officers. Adding things to their plate without increasing their number is not a proper plan.\"\n\nThe Tory leader indicated she was more focused on cousin marriage and sharia courts, as well as broader integration matters, including the treatment of women and child-rearing practices.\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nIt comes as Labour was accused of backing cousin marriage by refusing to support Mr Holden's Private Members' Bill seeking to ban the \"medieval\" practice.\n\nMr Holden told GB News in January: “If you don’t back first-cousin marriage, you can just say so... But Labour do back first-cousin marriage, and they’re trying to hide their secretive support for the practice.\n\n\"It is an issue bound up with serious health implications, closed communities, and the isolation of the vulnerable.\n\n\"I am appalled, but sadly not surprised, that Labour is once again turning a blind eye to the issue and allowing it to be kicked into the long grass rather than taking a genuine stand or even explaining why they continue to back first-cousin marriage in the UK.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Conservatives considering ban on cousin marriage 'to improve UK social cohesion'"
}