The government has said it's making progress to promote freedom of religion in the UK and the rest of the world.
It's after Christian MP for West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Derek Thomas, asked Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in Parliament on Tuesday about implementing recommendations in the 2019 Truro report.
He said: "It has already been mentioned that the independent review of persecuted Christians carried out in 2019 by the Bishop Truro, has its own formal review this summer. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made progress in adopting the recommendations of the report, but can I ask my right honourable friend, the Secretary of State whether she can assure this house of further progress in this area by the summer?"
I have been championing the Bishop of Truro’s report into religious persecution, and its call to make freedom of religion central to the Foreign Office’s mission, and I'm glad to see progress on what @pmounstephen recommended. pic.twitter.com/HkX8L80gib
— Derek Thomas MP (@DerekThomasUK) April 26, 2022
The Foreign Secretary commissioned the report, which sought to look into Foreign Office support for persecuted Christians.
The review, led by the Bishop of Truro, detailed widespread evidence of the kind of persecution and discrimination that Christians face worldwide. It also found that Christians are by far the most widely persecuted religion.
The report called for government to implement 22 bold recommendations within three years, which Mr Thomas reminded the government about.
Ms Truss responded: "I'm working very closely with my honourable friend, the member for Congleton, who's our religious freedom envy. I'm pleased to be hosting and attending the global summit to promote the freedom of religion in July, and we continue to make progress on implementing all of the recommendations of the Truro review."
The recommendations include considering imposing sanctions on perpetrators of serious human rights abuses and ensuring all Foreign Office staff have mandatory training on religious literacy.
