Excerpt:
A Labour MP today gave her backing to the government minister who spoke out about the health risks associated with Pakistanis marrying their cousins.
Ann Cryer, MP for Keighley, said she was delighted that Phil Woolas had triggered a public debate on the issue which she said affected some sections of the Pakistani population in her constituency.
An expert in genetics, Steve Jones, also defended Woolas today, saying that first-cousin marriages doubled the risk of babies being born dead or disabled.
Woolas, the environment minister and MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, told the Sunday Times: "If you have a child with your cousin, the likelihood is there'll be a genetic problem. The issue we need to debate is first-cousin marriages, whereby a lot of arranged marriages are with first cousins and that produces lots of genetic problems in terms of disability."
The minister was criticised at the weekend for his comments. The Muslim Public Affairs Council accused Woolas of being racist, while the Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne said he should have raised the issue more sensitively.