Javid in bid to raise age of marriage

WEST Midland MP Sajid Javid is introducing legislation to the House of Commons to raise the legal age for getting married to 18.

At the moment, teenagers aged 16 or 17 can be married with their parents’ permission.

But Mr Javid, MP for Bromsgrove, argues this is a form of child abuse.

The Ministry of Justice is supporting his proposal and the Government is expected to make time for it to be debated in Parliament, which means it is likely to become law.

Mr Javid is a former Home Secretary and Chancellor, and now a backbench MP.

He says that in practice, under-18s who marry “are rarely lovestruck teens.”

He said: “They are overwhelmingly young women who have been coerced into marriage for cultural or religious reasons.”

He said: “The British Government is working tirelessly to end child marriage in the developing world and yet our own laws are permitting child marriage by the back door.

“Indeed, when Bangladesh lowered the legal age of marriage from 18 to 16, ministers there were said to have directly pointed to our laws to justify their move.

“It’s clear that we must legislate to close this loophole so that vulnerable children cannot be pushed into such serious and life-changing commitments before they are ready.”