NHS England’s Genomics Education Programme released the guidance, titled “Should the UK government ban first-cousin marriage?” on Sept. 22. The guidance asserted that cousin marriage has been “practiced for centuries across many cultures” and questioned the prudence of banning it. Toward the end of its piece last week, the NHS even noted the “potential benefits” of cousin marriages. The Conservatives want to see an end to cousin marriage as a backdoor to immigration too, but Labour are deaf to these sensible demands,” Holden said. Cousin marriages have been legal in the U.K. since 1540, when King Henry VIII schismed from the Catholic Church and abolished the Canon Law ban on cousin marriages in order to wed Catherine Howard.