The government wants to prevent forced marriages

The raising of the age at which a person can apply for a spouse from outside the European Union to be allowed to live in Britain has been criticised by groups representing UK Muslims.

The change, introduced by Home Secretary David Blunkett last month, means British 16- and 17-year-olds will now have to wait until they are 18 before they can invite their husband or wife to live in the UK.

The minimum age a spouse from outside the EU has to be before they can take up residence in Britain remains 16.

The move is being seen as a response to widespread concern about schoolgirls being forced into marriages with men from their parents' home countries, who go their own way once they have been granted residency in the UK.

This is creating two sets of rules Iqbal Sacranie, Muslim Council of Britain

"This provision will stop young girls being pressured into marriage when they are 16 or 17 years old, " said a Home Office spokesman.

"At 18 they are more able to resist parental pressure and are likely to be much more confident of their own decisions about whether they want to get married to someone living abroad whom they might never have met."

But the age increase has angered many Muslims in Britain's Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, who see it as an attack on the tradition of arranged marriages.

The secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, Iqbal Sacranie, said the measure was ill-conceived

"There has to be consistency as far as legislation is concerned," he said.

Consultation

"This is creating two sets of rules, depending on where the person you've married who wants to live in Britain comes from.

"If there is clear evidence that there are young people under the age of 18 who appear to be involved in forced marriages, then one has to look at how best this can be prevented.

"The government may be trying to address the problem but this is going to end up penalising many people in genuine marriages."

Mr Sacranie also criticised the government for what he said was a lack of consultation over the changes.

But the Home Office spokesman said consultation had taken place.

"These changes were included in a White Paper published in February last year, entitled Securing Borders, Safe Havens, and we had a lot of responses to it from various groups," he said.