Tories may outlaw forced marriages

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The Tory leader will denounce the practice whereby hundreds of schoolgirls, as well as a minority of boys, are forced into marrying someone they do not want to as "bizarre and unacceptable".

He will commit a future Conservative government to a series of measures to tackle the problem - include a requirement that both would-be brides and grooms coming to Britain to get married and their partners in the UK are at least 21.

British nationals going abroad to marry would have to register in the UK beforehand if they want their marriage to be recognised for immigration purposes.

The announcement coincides with a visit by Mr Cameron to Bradford where he is holding a meeting of the shadow cabinet as well as meeting campaigners and victims of forced marriages.

While some 300 cases are reported to the Government's Forced Marriage Unit each year, Mr Cameron will say that the true figure is likely to be "well into the thousands".

The issue is highly sensitive within the Asian community. The Tory leader will, however, stress that he is not referring to the practice of arranged marriages which often result in long and happy unions.

"Forced marriages, on the other hand, are the practice where girls - some as young as 11 - are bullied, psychologically pressured, assaulted, sometimes kidnapped and taken abroad, and forced to marry someone they don't want to," he will say.

Mr Cameron will say that part of the solution lies in ensuring that the existing law is properly enforced as many of the methods used to force women into marriage - intimidation, assault, rape and kidnap - are already criminal offences.

However, the current Forced Marriages Act only makes it possible for the victims to pursue civil actions and a Tory government will look at the legislation to see whether it should be made a criminal offence.