Marriage age to be raised to 18 if Sajid's bill goes through

[johnofgwent]

Apparently, it's abusive to children to marry at 16. 
I was 19 when I married my 16 years old girlfriend. She's sitting next to me almost half a century later!

My brother married at 16. His bride was sixteen years and one week old. They'd been shacked up for quite a while beforehand ....


It was an interesting time.   Moira (then 20) has twisted my arm then 22 like the rest of me) to the point where it bloody well hurt and got an engagement ring out of me a while earlier.


Now she went in for the kill. Dragging me over to the registry office she told me to ask them about the mechanics of the process of getting married, seeing as we were neither Anglican nor Catholic and were unsure of exactly HOW one went about what paperwork there might be.


The lady in the office was very helpful (damn her). She explained everything, down to the process if a church other than Anglican or Catholics required a member of her staff to authorise the civil ceremony, or whether the minister were themselves a registrar which I was not aware they could be.


When Moira asked how much the process cost and was told the more notice we gave, the cheaper it was, she twisted my arm again and started filling in forms to hand her dad's vicar.....


When they got to taking my name, the woman said "oh, that's curious, we had an application from someone with that surname yesterday, a special licence for next tuesday.....


"Um ... That noticeboard you talked of ... Where is it "


I took the stairs to the street three at a time...


Came back and asked "where's the nearest payphone"....


"MUM ..... There's something you need to know. I'm getting married. But far more pressing than that....
"


My brother's marriage lasted three weeks


One of the witnesses he brought, a royal fleet auxiliary boiler stoker he was drinking with the night before, to ok a fancy to his bride and wrote to her saying "be in next Friday, coming to take you away with me, love George"


George came, and Cheryl went.


George - and many others too - "came" in succession. About 18 months later a mate of mine in the Merchant Navy rang me from a Plymouth pub. His ship had docked there some weeks ago and put him ashore at the end of his contract, he'd just secured another and was celebrating and he swore at the table across the pub my brother's wife (the divorce took years but this sort of settled it) was drawing names out if a hat to see who the father of the large lump in her guts was ......

My brother went in to acquire three more wives.


He did at one point join the Mormons.


I now have to wonder how many I should invite to Jennifer's wedding.


I fondly remember the catfight when my first girlfriend, who dumped me for a dustman, invited me to their engagement party. Naturally I went   and obviously, I took Moira with me as my - rather more attractive than the girl who dumped me - plus one.


Things went well right up to the time a well sozzled EX girlfriend said to the new one "well I had him first".......


CATFIGHT !!!!!

[Streetwalker]

Apparently, it's abusive to children to marry at 16. 
I was 19 when I married my 16 years old girlfriend. She's sitting next to me almost half a century later!

If the age of sexual consent stays at 16 does this mean the government will be condoning sex before marriage?

Surely the two ages should be the same. Raise both to 18, or leave things as they are?

Not everyone in a relationship wants to marry.  For some the commitment to each other far outweighs a declaration in front of friends and family  and if your that way inclined your god .

The connection between sex and marriage is a personal one though I would say the age of consent should be raised to 18 . It wouldnt stop teenage children messing about but it might stop older people taking advantage of them .

[johnofgwent]

What is Scotland doing ?


Incidentally, I first heard this being proposed in a programme denouncing the Deobandi Moslem sect for its takeover of various areas of northern British cities and the presence of oro-isis material in their mosques. Oh the irony.


And yes, the proposal IS to ban marriage until 18 while leaving the age of consent to sex at 16.


Stonewall must be pissing themselves laughing at their success.

[Barry]

Apparently, it's abusive to children to marry at 16. 
I was 19 when I married my 16 years old girlfriend. She's sitting next to me almost half a century later!

If the age of sexual consent stays at 16 does this mean the government will be condoning sex before marriage?

Surely the two ages should be the same. Raise both to 18, or leave things as they are?