The right to choose who you will live with, sleep with, eat with and possibly raise children with, for the rest of your life, is as basic a right as they come. Violations of this right are not only disastrous for the individuals involved, but they undermine values that are fundamental to British society and Islam itself. The Human Rights Act expressly protects and promotes the right to private and family life, while Islamic history is replete with examples of the Prophet Mohammed dissolving marriages where consent had not been sought. Therefore, any action which removes the element of free and informed consent - effectively treating human beings like chattel - should be roundly condemned.