Look here Abdul. I came to this country as a 14 year old child bride to marry you and let me say I haven't done too badly what with child benefits , the NHS, education for the kiddies and all – not to mention all the Daily Mail outlets in town.

I think Mr Sunny is quite right to say this forced marriage thingummy jimbob is a red herring got up by the Murdoch press. With our Daily Mails we can fight such lies.

Peace be upon me.

I think that is the key- convincing prominent British Asians and Asian media networks to talk about, and condemn, the problem a lot more. I would focus any poster camapign on the information and help available to victims, and potential punishments.

A poster campaign is just an idea that comes off the top of the head because it is the easiest way to get a message out. Obviously the idea could do with development, but the basic idea is what people are thinking about- how to convey the message.

When do you see ANY Asian media outlet stand up consistently and promote that message? Even though from top to bottom they all know what the problems are. Sunny might make the right noises occasionally, but he won't be the one to go out on a limb for this cause. What positive suggestions has he contributed on this thread? This is an attack thread.

If he's so serious why doesn't he collaborate and write something with me that he approves of, instead of always trying to pull me down.

caste was later cited as a reason once the mother had run out of other reasons… but the programme edited out parts of the history which showed the girl’s mother was generally opposed to the marriage and came up with whatever reasons she could find.

The publicist for The Family was adamant that all of the participants had given editorial approval for what was broadcast. They went on to say that the interviews accurately reflected the opinions of the family members. That includes the mum who stated plainly that Shay's mum was opposed to the marriage on caste grounds.

They rejected the idea that parts of the footage had been edited out to give a misleading impression.

So nice try.

I would blog about this myself, but I'm afraid you are just not worth the Google juice.

Your negative and partisan blogging is no help to anyone. When you have one single positive suggestion on how to help empower young people to deal with their parents and marry who they choose, I'll be listening.

“there's nothign wrong with the govt telling the giving blow jobs to plastic dolls is a stupendously bad idea but I don't see the govt doing that either.”

I really hate it when you say stuff like that. It's so childish and unpleasant. This is a serious subject we're talking about here, and you make some good points. Please don't cheapen them with pointless yuck.

Marrying a spouse from the rateater caste would certainly keep the housekeeping bills down.

Plus s/he would be employed with alacrity by Rentokil or Wandsworth Council.

You're at it again.

Learn to attack the argument, not the man.

Otherwise you look, well, pathetic.

What is it with you lefties and ad hominem bitching?

If only you had better role models on PP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem

“It [international arranged marriage] has a major impact on population growth. About 1,000 Bradfordian Muslims marry each year. If most of those marriages were internal to this country, it would lead to 500 new households which would be likely to average 4 children per household. (This is based on experience from other immigrant groups where family size usually halves that of the first generation by the second generation.)

With 60% of marriages involving a spouse from overseas, the number of households goes up to 800 and, with many of the spouses being first generation, family size is likely to be significantly larger. So whereas 500 internal marriages might be expected to produce 2,000 offspring, the 800 marriages are likely to produce 4,000 offspring.

This leads to very rapid population growth. In the eighties the Council estimated that the Muslim population would reach 130,000 by 2030 and then level. Now the projection is for 130,000 by 2020 and rising. The number of separate households is predicted to rise from 16,000 now to 40,000 in 2020.

This rate of growth concentrated in particular areas puts severe demands on the public services. It has other ramifications. Many of the children arrive at school with little or no English. Many of those who come from overseas have little education and do not possess skills which are transferable to a Western economy. The high family size means overcrowding will be a persistent problem.”

[Sound of Sunny choking on his organic fair-trade Chai latte]

Yet Sunny accuses me of being BNP sympathiser. Go figure.

We can’t stop people marrying their cousins or anyone else from their ancestral village. But we can ensure that spouses cannot be fetched here with impunity.

Fetching marriages are a scam. They generate a lot of money for the parents of the British spouse. The parents of the fetched spouse pay extra because of the British passport their son or daughter will receive out of the arrangement. Chain migration will then ensue with the newly ‘British’ fetched spouse sponsoring their parents and other relatives to join them under the family reunification rules.

The vast majority of British people don’t want anymore unskilled, unassimilable, third-world immigrants in this country.

Are you saying you wrote this?

there’s nothign wrong with the govt telling the giving blow jobs to plastic dolls is a stupendously bad idea but I don’t see the govt doing that either.

Quite apart from the sentiment, it just isn't your style or spelling.

And I call bullsh*t on your claim about editing in 'The Family': prove it!

It is about children being granted a free CHOICE in marriage.

Oh, and I'll thank you to use my handle which is A.C. as far as this forum is concerned, or Ash per the HP article.

But I do believe that they promote ghettoisation and set back integration by a generation.

I believe that a halfwit should be able to figure that one out.

But no, not at PP.

I must be a BNP nut who is pretending to have been born in Iran.

Reza you’re just a BNP nut and I call bullshit on your claim that you are an immigrant. If you are, then I’d love it if your wife, assuming she’s British born and bred, was told she was fostering extremism by marrying someone who wasn’t born in the UK. Eeedjat.

Frothing? I’ve done a lot more to help than you have frankly Ashley – and I’ve spoken out against forced marriages way before I even set up this blog.

The question is how to disarm the forcing tactics. I’m trying my best- what are you doing to disrupt these tactics?

Really? By linking foreign marriages to terrorism? Yeah, people really are going to buy that.

Therefore, the government should legislate to discourage these.

What rubbish.

douglas – type: meant to say Asians ‘aren’t’ thick.

The government also run campaigns saying that domestic violence is wrong -is this because they think all the victims of domestics violence are thick?

That isn’t the same. The point about an anti domestic violence campaign (which I support) would be to stigmatise DM and is aimed at culprits not the victims. I think they’re pretty aware that being abused isn’t a nice thing.

In this case Ashley is suggesting that Asians kids aren’t aware they have free will. They do: but the focus should be on parents and stigmatising them and increasing criminal penalties (which I support, and some womens groups like SBS don’t, by the way, because they think threats of prison make children less likely to report force).

So if you want to run a campaign against forced marriages, aim it accurately, not by suggesting Asian kids are thick because they don’t understand free will.

Nor by suggesting that marrying someone from abroad is more likely to make you a terrorist.

I have no idea what role forced marriage and other forms of domestic terror play in fostering extremism but a household built on the suffering and oppression of the mother cannot be healthy.

huh? If there is DM in a family where the bride comes from abroad, the mother is more likely to be the instigator in that oppression than the victim.