Conservative MP Sajid Javid has said allowing children under 18 to marry is “child abuse”, admitting it was a cultural practice “prevalent in certain communities”.
Mr Javid, who had served as home secretary and chancellor of the exchequer, made the remarks after drafting a Bill to scrap the legal loophole which allows underaged people to be coerced into marriages. Under current law, 16- and 17-year-olds can marry with their parents’ consent in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, the legal age to marry without parental support is 16.
