Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on tackling the persecution of Christians across the world.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

There is no space for religious intolerance in pluralistic, modern societies. We are championing the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and promoting tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral fora, our bilateral work, and our programme funding. We will continue to recognise the issue of Christian persecution globally, alongside the persecution of other individuals on the basis of their religion or belief. The Special Envoy for FoRB met with European and US counterparts in the margins of the 58th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in March. We actively participate in the Article 18 Alliance - bringing together 38 Member States, 26 of whom are European, to discuss actions our nations can take so that together we can promote respect for FoRB worldwide. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office officials attended the Article 18 Alliance and International Contact Group meetings in Geneva in March.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to help prevent the religious persecution of Christians in Bangladesh.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK has a long-standing commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, including Freedom of Religion or Belief. In November 2024, I visited Bangladesh and discussed the importance of the protection of religious minorities, including Christians, with Chief Adviser Yunus.

The UK is providing up to £27 million under the Bangladesh Collaborative, Accountable and Peaceful Politics programme for protecting civic and political space, fostering collaboration, reducing corruption, and mitigating tensions that lead to violence. We support the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and their report on the violations that occurred last year.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with international partners to help tackle the digital persecution of Christians.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

There is no space for religious intolerance in pluralistic, modern societies. We are championing the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all and promoting tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral fora, our bilateral work, working collaboratively with the Special Envoy for FoRB, David Smith, and our programme funding.

The development and use of digital technology presents both opportunities and risks for the enjoyment of human rights, including FoRB. It is important that we champion the positive potential of technology, whilst taking action to mitigate risks. We do this by working with international partners and through multilateral fora including the United Nations and the Article 18 Alliance which has a workstream, co-chaired by the UK, focused on FoRB and Artificial Intelligence.

<p>That's absolutely the case and I've heard learning disabled and autistic people say that, and we've seen that through Engage to Change. I listened very carefully to your 90-second statement, which made that clear, in Autism Awareness Month, as well.</p>
<p>I also have got concerns that I want to raise about people with mental health diagnoses, but also in this case. We cannot stigmatise people with mental health conditions and I am concerned about some of the language in the Green Paper on those individuals with mental health conditions. Where someone has a mental health condition, there could be an underlying undiagnosed cause. So, people in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s could be undiagnosed autistic and therefore suffering from mental health conditions as a result of that. Now, if the level that they have to reach in order to qualify for a PIP is raised, yet they have an underlying condition, I would like the UK Government to consider that those PIPs cannot be removed, or any support be removed, until they've gone through the diagnostic process, however long that takes. That'll be part of what I'll be feeding back in my response to the Green Paper.</p>
<p>Chris Evans, MP for Caerphilly, and I will be issuing a joint response to the Green Paper; I've read through it. We are happy to take Liz Kendall at her word when she said in the letter to the First Minister that the Green Paper is the beginning of the conversation and not the end point. I'm willing to take that as an opportunity to recommend these changes to the Government's paper, both from my lived experience, but also listening to those constituents who've contacted me and other stakeholders in my constituency and beyond, who have these experiences and know what is needed to change, both to help them <span style="text-decoration: underline;">and to mitigate the consequences of what's been announced.</span></p>