THE Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, has said that the Government supports a Private Member’s Bill that will make it a legal requirement for the Prime Minister to appoint a Special Envoy for International Freedom of Religion or Belief.
The International Freedom of Religion or Belief Bill was introduced into the House of Commons in October by the Conservative MP Fiona Bruce, who has been the Special Envoy since December 2020 (News, 1 January 2021). The Bill received its Second Reading in January.
The Bill would put the post of Special Envoy and an office to support their work on a statutory footing; at present, the Prime Minister isn’t required by law to appoint such an envoy.
The envoy’s duties would come with working “to advertise and protect international freedom of faith or belief”, and to “raise awareness of cases of concern involving persecution or discrimination on the grounds of faith or belief”, the Bill says.
In the House of Lords on Tuesday afternoon, the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, asked Lord Cameron whether he would support the Bill. The Bishop said that he hoped to bring the Bill forward to the Lords in the following few weeks, once it had concluded its Commons stages.
He said that putting the post on a statutory footing, because the Bill did, was a advice of his independent review on religious freedom which he accomplished as Bishop of Truro in 2019 (News, 12 July 2019).
Lord Cameron replied: “I very much agree with the Bill. In fact, I insisted that it went forward with government support. Fiona Bruce does a wonderful job on this regard and, for the primary time, certainly one of these governmental envoys will probably be placed on a statutory footing. That reflects the importance that we on this Government and within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office [FCDO] attach to celebrating freedom of non secular belief.”
Bishop Mounstephen also asked Lord Cameron what assessment he had product of the present state of freedom of faith or belief in India, given “disturbing reports of violations of freedom of faith or belief within the Indian state of Manipur over the past 12 months”.
Lord Cameron replied: “India is committed via its structure to freedom of faith and belief. Where specific issues or concerns arise, the UK Government in fact raises these directly with the federal government of India.”
In response to questions from other peers, Lord Cameron sought to stress the Government’s commitment to strengthening religious freedom around the globe.
“My department takes this very seriously: not only have we arrange the envoy and are putting that into laws, but we have now dedicated staff within the FCDO who have a look at freedom of non secular belief,” he said. He referred to a resolution on freedom of faith recommend by the UK and Emirati governments to the UN Security Council last 12 months, which the Council voted unanimously to adopt (News, 23 June 2023).
Lord Singh of Wimbledon, a cross-bench peer, said that, in India, “Christians have been persecuted repeatedly, and Sikhs are told that in the event that they behave like Hindus, they’re positive; otherwise, they’re termed separatists.” He asked whether Lord Cameron agreed that freedom of belief ought to be “on the forefront of the Commonwealth Charter”.
Lord Cameron said that his department had raised questions on religious freedom with the Indian government prior to now. “That should proceed.”
Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee, a non-affiliated peer, said that Bishop Mounstephen’s report had stated that Foreign Office staff were often not equipped to cope with instances of Christian persecution, and had really helpful mandatory training on religious diversity and inclusivity. Why was the present training not mandatory, she asked.
Lord Cameron replied: “There is quite a lot of diversity training within the FCDO, and there’s a dedicated variety of staff for coping with freedom-of-religious-belief questions, but I shall definitely ask the particular query about whether the training is included on this area.”
