Minister's comments inflame Islam debate

Published on Saturday 9 February 2008 23:10

A GOVERNMENT minister has prompted a fresh row over the place of Muslims in British society by warning that inbreeding in immigrant communities is causing a surge in birth defects.

Phil Woolas, an environment minister, said the issue was "the elephant in the room" which was never discussed because of its sensitivities.

But he said: "The issue we need to debate is first cousin marriage, whereby a lot of arranged marriages are with first cousins and that produces lots of genetic problems in terms of disability."

Woolas's comments came as tensions rose yesterday over the claim by the Archbishop of Canterbury that the adoption of some parts of Muslim Sharia law in the UK was "unavoidable".

Woolas said his comments did not refer to all Muslims but only to those whose families originated in rural Pakistan. Up to half of marriages from such communities are thought to involve first cousins.

He spoke out after research found that British Pakistanis accounted for 3% of all births and they are responsible for one in three British children born with genetic illnesses.

"If you talk to any primary care worker, they will tell you that levels of disability among the… Pakistani population are higher than the general population. And everybody knows it's caused by first cousin marriage," he said.

Woolas said the practice of inbreeding was a "cultural" issue, not a religious one. He added: "The problem is that many of the parents themselves and many of the public spokespeople are themselves products of first cousin marriages."

He said that, as a result, the matter was often left alone. "It's a very sensitive issue. That's why it's not even a debate and people outside of these areas don't really know it exists."

Sensitivities over the place of Muslims in Britain are at a high this weekend following the claims by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Last night, those criticising Dr Williams were joined by his predecessor Lord Carey, and Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, the head of the Catholic Church in England.

Lord Carey said that accommodating any part of Sharia law in the UK would be "disastrous" for the nation.

However, the head of the Church of Scotland, the Right Reverend Sheilagh Kesting, promised to stand by him, claiming that the response to his comments had been tantamount to a "witch-hunt".

Kesting has written a letter of support to Williams, stating that she believed his views on Sharia law had been "wilfully misconstrued".

She added: "I am appalled by the way in which the response to your lecture has become a personal witch-hunt calling for your resignation."

Lord Carey, writing in a Sunday newspaper, said of Williams: "He has in my opinion overstated the case for accommodating Islamic legal codes.

"His conclusion that Britain will eventually have to concede some place in law for aspects of Sharia is a view I cannot share.

"There can be no exceptions to the laws of our land which have been so painfully honed by the struggle for democracy and human rights.

"His acceptance of some Muslim laws within British law would be disastrous for the nation."