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Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Bill [HL]

I wish to make a couple of points which may not necessarily enlighten the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, but I note that there is some dissension on this issue on the Opposition Benches that did not exist at Second Reading or during the past few years. It might have helped those of us who are not grumpy but cautious about this matter, and might have helped tighten the legislation, if some of the noble Baroness’s points had been raised somewhat earlier. I understand what she is trying to say, but I should hope that we have done enough work over the years to be able to make a clear distinction between arranged and forced marriages. I hope that there is no concern about the fact that duress is definitely a factor in this. We have reached the point that we have in the mainstream legislative framework, and I am very comfortable with that. However, some of the points that she made should have been raised much earlier. Moreover, I believe that some of them have been addressed.