Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of changes to the law of blasphemy in Denmark.

Denmark has no law against blasphemy. On 7 December, the Danish Parliament passed a law banning the inappropriate treatment of religious texts. We have condemned recent incidents of Quran burning in Europe and we unequivocally denounce hatred and incitement of violence on the basis of religion or belief. Our position remains unchanged: we are committed to both freedom of expression and Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), and will continue to promote mutual respect between different communities.