The NHS faces criticism for prioritizing political correctness by endorsing cousin marriages, despite the heightened risk of birth defects and the potential for these marriages to serve as a means to control women.
Remarkably, the guidelines note that such marriages have been lawful in Britain since Henry VIII’s era, under a law allowing him to wed Anne Boleyn’s cousin, Catherine Howard, highlighting benefits like ‘stronger extended family support networks’.
This practice is particularly prevalent in the British Pakistani community, where it has been associated with a higher incidence of conditions like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease.
Statistics indicate that up to 20% of children treated for congenital issues in cities like Sheffield, Glasgow, and Birmingham are of Pakistani descent, in contrast to 4% or less in the broader population, costing the NHS billions in treatment expenses.
The guidance from NHS England’s Genomics Education Programme acknowledges that while first-cousin marriages correspond with a higher risk for genetic conditions or congenital anomalies, other factors like parental age, smoking, alcohol consumption, and assisted reproductive technologies pose similar risks—none of which are prohibited in the UK.
It suggests that inter-marriage has benefits, such as stronger family support systems and economic gains through consolidated resources, property, and inheritance. Instead of banning the practice, which could stigmatize specific communities and cultural traditions, the authorities are encouraged to provide ‘genetic counselling, awareness initiatives, and public health campaigns’.
The practice, which is common in the British Pakistani community, has been linked to a greater prevalence of disorders such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease
And it says ‘although children of first cousins have an increased chance of being born with a genetic condition, that increase is a small one: in the general population, a child’s chance of being born with a genetic condition is around 2-3 per cent; this increases to 4-6 per cent in children of first cousins. Hence, most children of first cousins are healthy’.
Responding to the guidance, Tory MP Richard Holden said that the Conservatives would legislate to ban marriage between first cousins on the grounds that it ‘destroys integration, women’s rights and the health of those involved’.
Mr 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 back door 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.’
Dr Patrick Nash, an expert on religious law and director of the Pharos Foundation social science research group in Oxford, said it was ‘truly dismaying to see NHS England publishing official ‘educational’ material that promotes the supposed social benefits of cousin marriage without even mentioning its proven links to honour violence, gender discrimination, multifarious forms of clan corruption, and the immense cost to the taxpayer’.
Dr Nash added: ‘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.’
This graphic, from NHS material distributed to couples in Bradford, explains some of the genetic risks of having children with a close relative. Two parents with a recessive gene have an increased chance of having a child with an inherited condition
Existing legislation states the prohibited degrees of relationship for marriage include those to a sibling, parent or child, but not marriages between first cousins, like Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
A YouGov poll earlier this year found that three quarters of Britons support a ban, with only 9 per cent thinking the law should remain as it is.
The NHS guidance also argues that ‘marriage between first cousins, known as consanguineous marriage, has been practised for centuries across many cultures’.
It states that ‘UK laws allowing first-cousin marriage date back to the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century: having broken with Rome in order to marry Anne Boleyn, Henry passed a new law that enabled him to marry her cousin, Catherine Howard’.
The NHS Genomics Education Programme did not respond to a request for comment.
