(GB News) Tory MP Richard Holden has called for a ban on first-cousin marriages, warning that such unions create a “clan culture” that undermines integration and enables grooming gang cover-ups.
Speaking on GB News, Holden argued that the practice traps communities and prevents victims from speaking out about criminal activity.
“It’s already illegal to marry other relatives. Back in the day, before Henry VIII we actually had a ban on first-cousin marriages,” Holden said.
He described first-cousin marriage as “something we’ve imported in recent years” and argued there is “a role of the state to say who you should and shouldn’t marry because of the knock-on consequences.”
