During Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office questions this week Fiona asked,
"What steps the Foreign Secretary is taking to ensure that freedom of religion or belief remains a key strategic priority for her Department"
Answering on behalf of the Foreign Secretary, Minister Vicky Ford MP said,
"Promoting freedom of religion or belief is one of the UK’s longest-standing human rights priorities. We are making good progress on implementing the Bishop of Truro’s recommendations to support everyone persecuted for their religion or belief. We are looking forward to hosting an international ministerial conference on freedom of religion or belief in July to drive forward international efforts to promote openness and freedom."
Following on, Fiona said,
"I thank the Foreign Secretary for her strong support for the international conference on freedom of religion or belief, which the UK Government will host in July. Do Ministers agree that that would be an excellent opportunity to showcase how FORB is a priority for the UK Government to many Government Ministers from across the world, whom we hope to welcome to that event, which we expect will be the largest UK-hosted international event of 2022?"
Responding to Fiona's question, Minister Ford said,
"I thank my Honourable Friend for her outstanding work across the world on the Prime Minister’s behalf as his Envoy on freedom of religion or belief. She is right to be really concerned about the increasing attacks and the increased severity of attacks on freedom of religion or belief. The conference that the UK is going to lead in July will be enormously important; we will welcome partner countries and stakeholders from all across the world. The Foreign Secretary is very much looking forward to attending it and taking part."