Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden has welcomed Kemi Badenoch’s comments that the Conservative party are looking at banning marriage between cousins.

Speaking on GB News Richard Holden said:

“[Banning cousin marriage] is something I’ve been campaigning for for some time. 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.

“And this is a really important move today. I think Kemi has been very supportive of this for some time, and the fact that she’s come out now and really thrown her weight behind me on this cause is really important.

“The truth is that cousin marriage exists in certain communities in the UK: the British Pakistani Muslim community, particularly certain parts of it from rural Pakistan, and also, to a lesser degree, in the Irish traveller community as well.

“And we know that there are really serious health issues associated with it, particularly when it goes generation after generation after generation.

“There are also real issues around personal freedom. In the general population around one in 500 people get married to their first cousin; within the British Pakistani community, that can be as high as 70% in some areas. So 70 in 100 marrying their first cousins.

“And that has real issues, particularly when it comes to who’s actually in control, right? Who can leave a relationship when leaving the relationship meaning means leaving your entire family support network and your friends as well? So there’s real issues around control and personal freedom there.

“And I think finally, there’s a bigger issue around social cohesion. This is about them sort of cutting themselves off from the rest of British society. I want to see that broken down.

“And the truth is, which the Labour MPs hate to hear, is that even a majority of people within the British Pakistani community want to see first cousin marriages banned, but they won’t stand up to the so called community leaders who constantly ram it down people’s throats.

“And I think it’s really important that the Conservative Party stands up for everybody from every part of the country.”