Labour accused of ‘secretly backing cousin marriage’ after blocking vote to ban ‘medieval’ practice

GB News ^ | 1/9/2026 | Jack Walters

[MinorityRepublican]

Labour has been accused of backing cousin marriage by refusing to support a Private Members' Bill seeking to ban the "medieval" practice.

Shadow Minister Richard Holden warned Labour MPs were "turning a blind eye" to cousin marriage after today's scheduled second reading vote was stalled.

The Basildon & Billericay MP put pressure on Sir Keir Starmer’s Government to support his proposed ban, with the Prime Minister last year rejecting his request to whip Labour MPs in support of prohibiting close family members from tying the knot.

Mr Holden told GB News: “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.

"It is an issue bound up with serious health implications, closed communities, and the isolation of the vulnerable.

"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."

The Marriages (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Bill was due to return to the House of Commons for its second reading today, having initially been slated for January 17 last year.

The Private Members' Bill was also listed in parliamentary business papers in March 2025 following an objection taken via a standing order.

However, the House of Commons is no longer expected to sit on January 9, meaning no legislative progress has been made in 395 days.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Incestuous marriages between first cousins is apparently a common practice among the Pakistani immigrant community. The result has been an astonishing increase in birth defects in the UK.

[KarlInOhio]

Don’t forget the number in the royal family, with Victoria and Albert being the most recent in the line.

[MMusson]

Ilan Omar to her brother, “We need a break. I think we should start seeing other siblings.”

[bigbob]

Including royals?

[dljordan]

I heartily recommend cousin and sister marriage for Muslims.

[MinorityRepublican]

I heartily recommend cousin and sister marriage for Muslims.

Inbreeding and lack of technological advancement—their Achilles Heel.

[brent13a]

Incestuous marriages between first cousins is apparently a common practice among the Pakistani immigrant community.

First cousin marriage is allowed and culturally acceptable in ALL muslim countries. In fact, all muslim countries are 35%-65% intergenerationally inbred BECAUSE of the cultural acceptance for inbreeding.

It's part of the islamic mindset of an Islamic Caliphate taking over the whole world. They asserted the tactic of attrition 100's if not 1,000 years ago.

As birth rates plummet in the west, muslim birthrates keep climbing because they don't have the same social taboos that we do in the west.

The one upside to this is that arab and asian muslim gene pools are now as shallow as a puddle of water. They've reached a point where millions od muslims are being born crippled, mentally retarded, and suffering all kinds of genetic diseases.

[CodeToad]

I guess the royals are getting horny again.

[Rocco DiPippo]

"I heartily recommend cousin and sister marriage for Muslims. "

Cool man! Then we'll get more and more Musloid retards mindlessly hacking, shooting and blowing up non-Musloid folks in the West! Awesome!

Ugh.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Which puts a HUGE strain on the NHS and social services.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NkxuKe2wOMs&pp=ygUbQ291c2luIG1hcnJpYWdlcywgY2hhbm5lbCA0