It is good that the Government is putting forward proposals aimed at curbing the practice of pressuring young people - usually but not always girls - to wed against their will.

There is to be a widespread consultation over these proposals, and that is only right, but as Ann Cryer MP says, the people whose views must be sought above all are not the councillors and community leaders but the young women who are either already being bullied, or fear they will be pressured at some time in the future, into marrying someone they don't want to marry.

It is very important to differentiate between arranged marriages, in which both parties are in full agreement, and forced marriages in which at least one of the partners is put under a huge amount of pressure to marry someone who might be a stranger or might be wholly incompatible.

It is important that we respect other cultures and that there is room in society for people to live largely within their cultural and religious beliefs, so long as they do not harm others and also live within the law of the land.

However, there is plenty of evidence that forced marriages can cause harm, both mentally and physically, and they break some existing laws if they involve kidnap, false imprisonment and rape.

Mrs Cryer is right to be seeking new laws making it a crime to aid and abet or coerce a forced marriage.

It is important that legislation is introduced that produces freedom of choice, and freedom from fear, for women of all cultures.