THE TELEGRAPH: Politicians are too scared to discuss multiple marriages in case they offend Muslims, shadow minister for Community Cohesion Baroness Warsi has claimed.
The Muslim peer blamed "cultural sensitivity" for the failure to tackle the problem of polygamy.
She wants the Government to consider ordering that all religious marriages must be registered, as civil ceremonies are, in order to stop men marrying more than one wife.
More than 1,000 British men are thought to have more than one wife.
Although bigamy is illegal in the UK, those who have moved here after marrying more than one woman in Islamic countries are allowed to remain in polygamous partnerships – and can even claim benefits for their additional spouses.
Lady Warsi, the shadow minister for community cohesion, told the BBC: "There has been a failure on the part of policymakers to respond to this situation.
"Some of it has been done in the name of cultural sensitivity and we've just avoided either discussing or dealing with this matter head-on.
"There has to be a culture change and that has to brought about by policymakers taking a very clear stance on this issue, saying that in this country, one married man is allowed to marry one woman." >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, February 21, 2009
*We are being ‘led’ by a pack of wimps! – Mark
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Polygamy Claimants Keep the Money
Ministers decided not to force through plans to cut benefits to hundreds of polygamous families in the UK after officials advised that the move would be too politically sensitive.
Internal documents obtained by The Independent on Sunday reveal that ministers from four departments ordered an “urgent review” of the position of up to 1,000 men with “multiple wives”, amid complaints that they were claiming millions in benefits.
However, the Government decided against altering the status of polygamous families after it was warned that it could contravene human rights legislation – and officials assured that the benefits system was geared to ensure there was “no financial advantage to claiming for those in polygamous marriages”.
Details of the response to the complaints came after the Tory frontbencher Baroness Warsi accused politicians of failing to deal with the issue because of “cultural sensitivity”. The Muslim peer urged the Government to consider the mandatory registration of all religious marriages to stop men in Britain from marrying more than one woman.
Four departments embarked on the review in 2006 following a parliamentary question on the benefits payable to polygamous families. Ministers were told that, before 1988, benefit was paid to anyone who could establish they were in polygamous relationships, but “this was narrowed to polygamous marriage following press interest in people in hippie communes living off the state”.
Britain recognises polygamous marriages from countries where such unions are legal, although a man is prevented from bringing another wife into this country if a woman is already living as his wife in the UK. [Source: The Independent on Sunday] By Brian Brady, Whitehall Editor | Sunday, February 22, 2009
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