Multiple marriages could be officially recorded by the state, a government working party suggested today.
A leaked document said that polygamous marriages, as practised by some Muslims and other faiths, could be registered to protect women whose partners take a second or third wife.
The Government strongly denied it would make polygamy legal. But MPs said the idea looked like a first step towards recognising multiple marriages under Islamic Sharia law, which allows a Muslim man up to four wives.
The document was produced by an integration and tolerance working group in the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Called "Creating the conditions for integration", the paper was leaked to former MP Paul Goodman, who revealed it on the ConservativeHome website.
It states: "Religious marriage is not recognised by the State unless you choose for it to be so. This leaves an individual who enters into religious marriages unprotected if their partner enters a second or third religious marriage. This can be remedied by requiring both religious marriages and religious divorces to be registered with civil authorities."
Philip Hollobone, Tory MP for Kettering, said: "The British public will not support the recognition of polygamous marriages... Any step along that road would be a step too far."
Conservative Nadine Dorries, MP for Mid Bedfordshire, said that there was a difference between recognising polygamous marriages and registering them. But she went on: "Both are wholly unacceptable. This is a Christian country."
A Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "Polygamy is illegal in Britain and will remain so."
Officials confirmed the document was genuine but said it contained only factual statements. One said: "Under no interpretation does it suggest that government is even considering legalisation of multiple marriages."
