PM praises MP Cryer over forced marriages

From the archive, first published Saturday 9th Dec 2006.

Tony Blair gave his strongest hint yet that forced marriage could be made a criminal offence - after echoing pleas from Keighley MP Ann Cryer.

The Prime Minister singled out Mrs Cryer for her work on forced marriages in a speech aimed at building community cohesion. He told an audience in London the age at which a person can bring in a partner to marry could be raised from 18.

Mrs Cryer has made repeated calls for the age to be increased to 21 and for the Government to re-examine making forced marriage a criminal offence.

In June the Home Office shelved plans for the offence saying it was not in the "best interest of victims."

But yesterday Mr Blair said: "We consulted on whether a specific offence should be created, but, in the light of the responses received, chose not to pursue this.

"We will however return to the matter if necessary and will also consult on raising the age for entry clearance further, a point made

strongly and well by Ann Cryer MP. We need very clear rules for how we govern the public realm.

"A good example is forced marriage. There can be no defence of forced marriage on cultural or any other grounds."

The Forced Marriages Unit was formed in 2005 and deals with 250-300 cases a year mainly relating to people of South Asian background.

Mrs Cryer was "quite taken aback and touched" by the praise, and admitted the two had not always "seen eye to eye" on all political issues.

She said: "It is the only way forward. We cannot have forced marriage happening, especially when people cannot speak English. About half of the Muslim population in Bradford did not speak English when they arrived. It is very kind of the Prime Minister because we have had some arguments over the years.

"But I am not afraid to speak my mind and I do not fear backlash from the politically correct brigade. Things have got to change if we want cohesion."

Mrs Cryer said between 600 and 700 people a year are coming into Bradford to marry, and urgent action must be taken. Last week Mrs Cryer tabled an early-day motion demanding the Government make forced marriage an offence. It has already attracted support from 59 cross-party MPs.

The signal from Mr Blair followed an announcement this week by Home Secretary John Reid that foreigners wanting to live in Britain permanently as of April 2 will face a "life in the UK" exam and have to prove proficiency in the English language.

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