by Tony Rucinski, Coalition for Marriage
Tim Dieppe is Head of Public Policy at Christian Concern. He sat down with me to unpack the arguments around cousin marriage from a recent article he wrote and why this matters for marriage as a public institution. You can listen to Tim explain his arguments fully in our discusion here:
his debate has been back in the news. NHS England has faced scrutiny over training materials that reportedly spoke of “potential benefits” of first-cousin marriage, and suggested genetic risks had been “exaggerated”.
Tim’s argument begins with a simple premise about what marriage is: “I think marriage is meant to be a public institution endorsed by the state and protected by law”. That is why he argues the cousin marriage question cannot be shrugged off as a technicality.
He presses a practical point that is often missed: “Let’s ensure that [all] marriages are registered.” Registration is the gateway to legal protection, particularly for women, when relationships break down. C4M has written about this previously.