Well, that Express headline was always going to raise a few eyebrows!😳 Starmer is responsible for embracing polygamy to appease Muslims, and so he's increasing their benefits?? That's the implication. After all, this "started in April", right? Wrong! 🧵1/25
As ever, the first place to check is the article itself. The Express doesn't make finding context, nuance, or explanation easy! 👇I had to scroll through 8 adverts, 2 blocks of links to other clickbait stories, and a newsletter signup block before reaching anything explanatory 2/
So let's look at the situation objectively. Polygamous marriage is illegal in the UK. However, people who have entered into a polygamous marriage while living in a country where that is legal will have that marriage status recognised in the UK under certain circumstances 3/
This legal recognition has been the case since at least 1971. This is nothing new. In 2008, it was explained that while polygamous marriage was not legal in the UK, " the government has no desire forcibly to sever relationships that have been lawfully contracted in other jurisdictions" 4/
The Express admits that none of this is new, but look at the way they hide that sentence in between yet more adverts. Blink as you scroll, and you'd miss it! 5/
It is important to note that while the polygamous marriage is recognised in certain circumstances, it is NOT recognised under immigration rules. A 2nd wife cannot obtain a spouse visa if there is already a wife living in the UK. Nor can the children of subsequent wives get visas as dependents 6/ So the only way a second wife can move to the UK is by gaining a visa in her own right as an individual. That may be a work visa or a study visa, or potentially by claiming asylum, but not as a spouse. This has been the case since 1988 - more than 35 years! 7/
So, that's how you end up with polygamous households in the UK. But how do they end up receiving benefits? No fresh immigrants to the UK are entitled to benefits. 8/ However, once they have lived here a number of years, working and supporting themselves, paying NHS surcharges and visa fees, they can apply for Leave to Remain, and then apply for British citizenship (both costing £1000s). At that point, they may become entitled to benefits... 9/ And in this particular story, the benefits in question are Pension Credits or Housing Benefit for people above pensionable age who have a low income. In April, these benefits went up by 4.8% for EVERYONE eligible. And that includes those living in a polygamous household. Ever since 1988, it has been agreed that people should NOT be able to benefit financially from being in a polygamous marriage, so the "extra" payment for the 2nd wife is less than if she claimed as a single person. The value is halfway between the payment to a couple and that of a single person. So a couple gets £363.25 in pension credits per week A single person would get £238 A 2nd wife in a polygamous family gets £125.25 (Up from £119.50 before April - that's the 4.8% increase 12/
Interestingly, a 2006 government paper explained that the rationale for introducing these rules around polygamous marriages stemmed from "press interest in people in hippie communities living off the state" 😆 You can just imagine the Daily Mail headlines!😆 13/
Whatever your feelings about polygamous marriages, it is clear that no one is using them to "game the system" No one can sponsor more than one spouse to migrate to the UK If a 2nd spouse can get here legally under her own merits, she would be better off claiming any benefits as a single person For this headline to apply: A man must have married more than 1 wife in another country, where they all lived, legally He and wife 1 must have moved to the UK legally Wife 2 must have gained entry legally on her own merit They must all have been living here 5+ years They must all be over 65 And they must be claiming pension credits and housing benefits. There are VERY few people this applies to! In fact, in this Commons question from January this year, the available data suggests that there are FEWER THAN 10 HOUSEHOLDS that this applies to. Just 10...
You read that right! There are fewer than 10 households in the UK claiming housing benefit where the claimant is recorded as having more than one partner! 17/ The 2006 paper also looked at alternatives to the current system and concluded that neither option was preferable. One said treat the 2nd wife as a separate claimant - which would cost MORE One said stop the 2nd wife from accessing any benefits - which could lead to extreme hardship for the women
What's interesting is how little press coverage this issue has received over the years The rules have been in place since 1988... But suddenly we get headlines about it now - when it affects fewer than 10 households - with the blatant suggestion it STARTED IN APRIL. 🤔🤷♀️ And of course, it's always fun when Conservative MPs who oversaw these rules during their decade in government suddenly clutch their pearls about it. 20/
It's worth noting that these rules only apply to people past retirement age. Universal Credit criteria for working-age people got rid of the polygamous recognition, meaning any other wives are treated as individual adults. As Tory MP Richard Fuller said in 2012, only a few people are impacted.
This did leave the Telegraph grappling with: "Thank goodness they're removing the ability to claim for multiple wives" Followed shortly by: "Treating them as individuals rather than a 2nd wife means they'll be better off" But keep in mind, we're talking double-digit numbers of households at most
So yes: In line with Benefits increasing FOR EVERYONE in April... Fewer than 10 households with pensioners who have lived, worked and contributed in the UK for years... Will contain a 2nd wife who will receive a smaller pension credit than if she were not a 2nd wife
And all of this because of rules that have existed for 35+ years. But sure, let's pretend this started in April and was specifically aimed at polygamous households.🙄 That'll rile up the masses and distract from dodgy, undeclared political donations...👍🏻 24/ Right, I'm off to hide from the inevitable comments!🫣 If you like these types of debunks, please sign up for my Substack: monkdebunks.substack.com It's free! But paid subscriptions and coffee (or wine!) donations (buymeacoffee.com) really help 😊 25/25