DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)
Men who bring more than one wife to Britain can claim extra benefits at taxpayers’ expense, British press reports said Monday, a move slammed by the Conservative Party as “totally unacceptable”.
Ministers have ruled that families with a husband and several wives will be officially recognized under the UK's benefits system – but only if the marriages took place in a country where polygamy is legal, as in some Muslim countries.
If the polygamous marriage is valid, the amount payable is £33.65 (67 dollars) per wife per week. The families could also claim child benefits for every child and argue for greater housing benefit and tax reductions because of the need for bigger homes.
A government review concluded in December that allowing husbands to claim for their additional wives remained the “best possible” option, The Express reported, adding that the decision will chiefly benefit Muslim men, as Islamic law allows them to have up to four wives.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said that there are fewer than 1,000 polygamous marriages in the UK and only a small percentage of these claim social security benefit.
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Opposition But critics attacked the decision as “totally unacceptable,” saying it offered preferential treatment to a particular group, and warned it could lead to demands for other changes in British laws.
“You are not allowed to have multiple marriages in the UK, so to have a situation where the benefits system is treating people in different ways is totally unacceptable and will serve to undermine confidence in the system," Conservative party spokesman Chris Grayling said.
“This sets a precedent that will lead to more demands for the culture of other countries to be reflected in UK law and the benefits system,” he told the Express, and accused the Government of trying to keep the December ruling quiet because the topic was so controversial.
Corin Taylor, of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, told the daily: “British taxpayers are paying a record amount of tax so the Government has a duty to make sure that every penny is spent properly.
“Polygamy is not something which British law allows and British taxpayers should not have to pay for extra benefits for second or third wives.”
The paper said that while a married man cannot obtain a "spouse visa" to bring a second wife into Britain, additional wives may be able to enter the country via other legal routes such as tourist visas, student visas or work permits.
A government spokesman told the Telegraph newspaper that the number of people in polygamous marriages entering Britain had fallen since the 1988 Immigration Act, which "generally prevents a man from bringing a second or subsequent wife with him to this country if another woman is already living as his wife in the UK".
But the Telegraph said officials have identified a potential loophole by which a man can divorce his wife under British law while continuing to live with her as his spouse under Islamic law, and obtain a spouse visa for a foreign woman who he can legally marry.
In Britain, bigamy is punishable by up to seven years in prison. |
