NHS faces backlash for saying first-cousin marriage ‘has benefits’

They have been urged to apologise for their guidance.

In guidance published by NHS England’s Genomics Education Programme last week, the health service said first-cousin marriages are linked to 'stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages'.

On the other hand, they also linked the practice to the oppression of women and also has a proven increased risk of genetic disease in offspring of first-cousin relationships.

The NHS have now been urged to make an apology for publishing such guidance.

Conservative MP Richard 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 backdoor 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.”

While marrying a first-cousin is legal in the UK, it increases the risk of children inheriting genetic conditions.

It has been proven that health issues, like sickle cell disease and cystic fibrosis, are more likely to be carried in or contracted by children with closely related parents.

The guidance also cited that the practice has been legal in the UK since the 16th century first established as a loophole for Keny Henry VIII to marry Catherine Howard, his ex-wife's cousin.

Other factors in the inheritance of genetic conditions such as smoking, parental age and alcohol were highlighted with the guidance saying 'none of which are banned in the UK'.

The guidance read: "Genetic counselling, awareness-raising initiatives and public health campaigns are all important tools to help families make informed decisions without stigmatising certain communities and cultural traditions."

Furthermore, health secretary Wes Streeting said an apology must be made.

"The first I heard of this is when I saw that report, I asked 'what on earth is going on here and what are they playing at?'

"The advice has been taken down but why was it ever there in the first place? The medical science and evidence is clear. First cousin marriages are high-risk and unsafe.

"We see the genetic defects it causes, the harm that it causes, and that's why that advice should never have been published," he continued.

Expert on religious law and director of the Pharos Foundation social science research group in Oxford, Dr Patrick Nash, labelled the guidance 'truly dismaying'.

“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.”

A NHS England spokesman commented: “The article published on the website of the Genomics Education Programme is a summary of existing scientific research and the public policy debate. It is not expressing an NHS view.”

The article has since been deleted by the NHS.