Blunkett blasted over marriages

Members of Asian groups across the area moved to defend the practice after Mr Blunkett urged parents to stop recruiting partners from the Indian sub-continent.

He said many marriages broke down because of tensions between cultures and suggested the search for brides and grooms should take place within Britain.

His comments come just days after Lancashire Police revealed they were dealing with unprecedented levels of complaints about arranged and forced marriages.

They followed a court case where a young Asian woman was attacked by her family because she refused to go along with their marriage plans.

But local Asians said that Mr Blunkett had wrongly generalised arranged marriages and that most were based on love between two people, regardless of where one had lived previously.

Sehana Bux, from Beardwood, Blackburn, is a solicitor at Blackhurst Swainson in Preston and specialises in matrimonial cases involving ethnic minorities.

She said Mr Blunkett had not made the distinction between those that were forced and those that were not.

She added: "There are a number of families who take their children over and marry them off and I am completely against that. But Mr Blunkett is going about it the wrong way by generalising.

"He should be more careful because it is a very, very delicate subject"

Abdul Hamid Qureshi, secretary of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, said forced marriages were against Islam.

"But what Mr Blunkett fails to understand is that most of the marriages are legitimate and based on someone loving another.

"The world is global community now and we can go from here to almost any other country."

Coun Rafique Malik, deputy mayor of Burnley, said: "I cannot agree with his philosophy that people who marry with in the UK will not suffer poverty and prejudice.

"The real concern is racial discrimination whether intentional or not."

Mr Blunkett found support from some East Lancashire MPs.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Janet Anderson said: "It's a question the Asian community needs to address -why they need to bring in spouses from the sub-continent.

"I believe they should find them from their own community in the UK."

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice said: "The Asian community is large enough in Britain for people to find husbands and wives. It's well established and we are talking about young people being brought over who don't speak English and have no knowledge of the UK, its people or its culture."

Burnley MP Peter Pike added: "We must make sure we draw a distinction between arranged marriages and forced marriages."

Ribble Valley Tory MP Nigel Evans said: "We don't need knee-jerk reactions. I think we should pause for thought and remember that we are dealing with a different cultural tradition."

East Lancashire's Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Chris Davies said: "I welcome these comments.

"British Asian girls marrying a partner who has no knowledge of our society and its attitudes can only perpetuate the domestic role of Asian women, which in turn prevents them from reaching their full potential.

"I note that much of the criticisms are coming from Asian men, but it is time we heard the voice of Asian women speaking out clearly."

Home Secretary David Blunkett said: "We need to be able to encourage people to respond particularly to young women who do actually want to be able marry someone who speaks their language -- namely English -- who has been educated in the same way as they have, and has similar social attitudes.

"That seems to me to be a crucial issue in terms of future co-operation and breaking down of terrible tensions that exist when people feel trapped between two different cultures and backgrounds.

"I don't think it's unreasonable. I hope I'm doing it sensitively."