UK Conservatives Vow to Close Benefit Loophole for Polygamous Marriages

A future Conservative government in the United Kingdom has pledged to close a loophole in the welfare system that allows additional benefits to be paid to husbands with multiple wives. This practice, recognized when marriages are lawful in the country where they took place, often under Sharia law, is set to be ended to stop what is described as the "rewarding" of "damaging cultural practices."

Polygamy itself is illegal in the UK. However, the current welfare system acknowledges marriages performed overseas, leading to extra payments for additional spouses beyond the standard couple's rate. For pensioners, each additional spouse can claim £125.25 per week in pension credit and a further £125.25 in housing benefit. This could result in a household with one husband and four wives receiving approximately £1,504.40 per week in pension credit and housing benefit, totaling around £78,229 annually – an excess of £39,406 compared to what a typical couple receives.

Government sources have indicated that while individuals do not typically profit from polygamy, there is no upper limit on the number of spouses for whom benefits can be claimed. This could allow a household with eleven wives to receive benefits totaling £170,175 per year.

Conservative MP Richard Holden, who is also campaigning to ban cousin marriage, stated that taxpayers would likely be angered by the support provided to men with multiple wives. He asserted that the welfare system should not endorse harmful cultural practices that are otherwise illegal in Britain, and that his proposed bill aims to dismantle this "outrageous arrangement."

The proposal also encompasses plans to ban benefits for individuals in incestuous unions and cousin marriages. An investigation by the Daily Mail highlighted that individuals in close familial marriages are significantly more likely to claim benefits. Analysis reportedly shows a 25% increase in handouts in areas where cousin marriage is more prevalent. In Bradford, for example, where one in six births are to parents who are cousins, disability benefits are reported to be 23% higher than the national average, a disparity attributed by experts to the increased risk of birth defects in offspring of closely related parents.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions noted that the number of claimants from polygamous households is very small. They also added that immigration rules have largely prevented the formation of such households in the UK since 1988.