Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the persecution of Christians overseas.

​The persecution of Christians, and indeed individuals of all faiths or beliefs, remains of profound concern to us. The scale of this persecution prompted the former Foreign Secretary to ask the Bishop of Truro to examine how the British Government could better respond to the plight of persecuted Christians around the world. The Bishop of Truro published a hard-hitting report with 22 ambitious recommendations. We have accepted the recommendations in full and work is ongoing to implement them in a way that will bring real improvements in the lives of those persecuted because of their faith or belief, Mr Rehman Chishti MP. This work is being overseen by the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief.