if any1 knows wen the age limit is to come in force would u plz let me no.much appreciated.

mina, london, uk

I think its a very good idea

khan, london, england/ london

This is unfair to people that are happly married and are looking foward for their other half to come over. 18 year olds are known as adults so i think they are perfectly capable of obligating if they do not want to get married

m, nottingham,

Well “westernized or not” the choice lies with the individuals. I'm sure most British South Asians are more than capable of making their own life time decisions on who to marry.

The reason for getting a bride from their parents home land “ie Pakistan, or south Asia isn’t because they want a submissive obedient wife like someone commented”. The national statistics of a liberated and westernized generation of females will answer that...“Two in five British marriages end in divorce, the highest rate in Europe", and the average number of sexual partners an adult will have in a life time is ten in the UK. (http://www.channel4.com/health).

I believe these statistics don’t do justice to the institution of marriage rather they tarnish its purpose! So isn’t loyalty more important. The question is in what sort of cultural environment is one most likely to find it? Fortunately traditional values and the sanctity of marriage is still more evident in the subcontinent than in Britain.

mohammed rizwan, OLDHAM, uk

when do this take affect then?

laura, bucks,

You have to respect peoples' right to private and family life. I think you have to assume that adults, i.e. those over 18, are capable of making their own free choices, which include coming to Britain to marry. However, the root right of all human rights is human dignity, which is certainly violated in forced marriages. There should be interviews to assess on a case by case basis whether it is really a forced marriage. A blanket age limit applicable in all cases is a disproprtionate infringement of peoples' rights.

David Kraft, Muenster, Germany (british citizen)

"The complex reasons that underlie the return of the children of minorities to their homeland in order to choose their partners requires to be explored by the people of Britain" -Somnath Mukhopadhyay, Dundee, UK

Why dont the British Chinese, Afro-Carribbean and Continental European communities "import" their brides then? I know why. Because they are perfectly okay with a "westernised" wife who works and is independant. On the contrary, the (South) Asian population is much larger, yet you all want submissive obedient wives who would not question your "authority" hence the import of Indian and Pakistani brides.

Go ahead, deny it.

Pete, Cov,

If a country curtails the rights of its citizens to choose their partners, it ceases to be a free country. The complex reasons that underlie the return of the children of minorities to their homeland in order to choose their partners requires to be explored by the people of Britain. In my opinion, the reasons are perfectly sound and justifiable, and strengthen the framework of modern Britain. However, I support the government's efforts to clamp down on forced marriages which are nasty.

Somnath Mukhopadhyay, Dundee, UK

One of the first actions by Jack Straw as Home Secretary in the first Blair government was to abolish the ‘’Prime Purpose’’ rule designed to block marriages arranged solely to enable a spouse usually a man to gain entry into the UK. Mr Straw naively claimed it would affect only 70 marriages a year, look at the numbers now- 15,000 according to this article! Many of these fail and the man is free to bring someone else into the UK.
Never mind an age limit, in some eastern countries the rule is that marriage to someone from the Indian sub-continent requires the ‘local’ to go and live there.
So how about it? To balance things up lets have 50 years of Asians living or even born in the UK contracting marriages through the family have to go and live ‘back home’’
I’m sure it will have no effect on the practice of arranged marriages as true love will always win through

Teresa Fryer, Birmingham, England

We shouldn't be raising the age to stop forced marriages of Asians in this country. Instead we should be putting a stop to it completely. What would happen if a white anglo saxon family indiginous to this country decided to arrange a forced marriage with an Asian girl or boy. They wouldn't get away with it. Even more relevant, what if we had forced marriages amongst our own indiginous population. Again it wouldn't be allowed to happen. Why are the Asians allowed to get away with it.

michael pickles, bournemouth, England

Why are we allowing minorities to go back to their countries of origin to find marriage partners? If this government was serious about encouraging integration it would have closed this door by now.

Lin, London, UK

This government particularly has made a very grave mistake to allow Indians to use such legal loopholes to their own advantages. Ethnic minorities (particularly Indians) in certain governement positions have used the law for their own benefit on the expenses of later wave of emigrants.
I am in favour of such measures and even tougher ones.

Bajram, London,

So what's wrong with 24, as the Dane's have done?

andrew, swindon,

step by step we might be evolving into a normal country instead of one so supine that only the legitimiate, and those following the rules, live in fear.....but this government has a history of words not needs.

Observer, Peterborough, England

So false imprisonment and rape only apply to those under 21. Fascinating. Let's hope that the East European people -traffickers who force young women into prostitution are not paying attention.
Those involved in this particular area of the livestock market will only be slightly inconvenienced by a three year wait.

Edward Johns, Lannion, France

I just visited my local hospital where my 23 year old married niece delivered a healthy baby girl.In the same ward there was one 13 year old white girl delivered a baby boy last night.She don't know who the father was,are we talking about emancipation of women here?

elias, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire

everything has two different faces
but its a good way extrally....may have a try!

lyn, guangzhou, China

How ironic; on the day that celebrates Wilberforce it is still acceptable in some cultures to force young inexperienced girls to marry; when will those cultures learn that slavery takes many forms and is repugnant in all those forms.

dmt, melbourne, australia

Why not just ban visas entirely for people from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, If British nationals want to marry someone, they can go and live there. The problem will soon disappear.

ed lancey, london,

it is very nice,i m agree to that. im 28years old .

Md.fardous woahid, dhaka, bangladesh