'Tiptoeing around communities!' Lawyer sparks fiery GB News row after claiming first cousin marriage ban is 'too far'

The row was sparked by the exposure of new NHS guidance, which told midwives about the "benefits" of cousin marriage despite the rise in birth defects.

Exposed by the Mail on Sunday, the document explains that concerns about the risks of congenital diseases are "exaggerated" and "unwarranted" as "85 to 90 per cent of cousin couples do not have affected children".

Delivering his verdict on the guidance, Mr Aziz told GB News: "I have to admit, there is a lot of panic and media information on this, but in fact, there have been studies carried out which reveal that first cousin marriages in fact only have four to six percentage chance of deformity, whereas in the general public is two to three per cent.

"That's just in terms of the chance of this happening. Apart from that, there are, as the NHS guidance states, other benefits or advantages of such marriages, which in fact nullify or in fact create a situation or scenario which could actually overall benefit to the NHS."

Challenging Mr Aziz, host Dawn Neesom highlighted: "The NHS itself is saying that up to 85 per cent of first cousin couples do not have affected children, but by my maths that means that up to 15 per cent could. So that's NHS statistics there which is different to yours?"

He responded: "Yeah. It's not quite right because there are different levels of what we call chances of this happening. There have been further studies which actually reveal that the actual figures are the figures that I've actually given you."

Grilled on whether he believes it is a "good thing" that the NHS is claiming that first cousin marriage is okay, Mr Aziz told GB News: "I think what they're trying to say is that for those couples that have already had first cousin marriages, when they read about these things in the media, there's a stigmatisation or a feeling of guilt that what they should do in fact is tell them, look, it's not a problem and that they should carry on obviously having the baby.

"And if there is anything wrong with the baby, there are modern day techniques that can actually identify that. And in fact, there's been a lot of development in the medical profession to, in fact, allow that to happen.

"So overall, I think the negativity that we are actually seeing is actually probably not justified."

Dawn then hit back, arguing that Britain is progressively "tiptoeing around communities" and their practices through fear of being called "racist" - citing a rise in female genital mutilation cases in the UK.

Mr Aziz told GB News: "I have to correct you there slightly, Dawn, because female genital mutilation is only a cultural aspect in certain parts of the world, probably concentrated in East Africa.

"And it's something which is obviously now there is more education about it, but I don't think you can actually conflate the two, they're two very different issues there."

Dawn stated: "I think personally it's tiptoeing around cultural issues, because we are frightened of offending some communities in this country these days where these things are plainly not healthy."

Partly agreeing with Dawn, the lawyer said: "Absolutely. I agree with you. Female genital mutilation should not happen. Unfortunately, it's just something which does happen, without public authorities knowing about it.

"But it is actually unlawful, in fact, to do that in this country. And therefore, that's a good thing."

Asked whether he supports a ban on first cousin marriage in Britain, Mr Aziz said: "I think a blanket ban is probably going too far.

"There may be certain instances, and I have to say, of course, that young people in this country no longer follow that sort of traditional route of first cousin marriage."

In a statement, an NHS spokesman said: "The NHS absolutely recognises the genetic risks of consanguineous relationships, and where people consider entering into them we offer referral to genetics services so individuals understand the risks and can make informed decisions."