We must protect Christians in this country as well
Jeremy Hunt raises Easter alarm over worldwide persecution but is told: It’s happening in UK too
A MAJOR inquiry into the persecution of Christians around the world should be expanded to cover discrimination against followers of the faith in the UK, MPs said last night.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has asked the Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen, to carry out the review and uses an Easter article in today’s Mail on Sunday to say that the Government is determined to act against victimisation worldwide.
But critics said Mr Hunt should acknowledge that Christians face discrimination in the UK, including the nurse sacked three years ago for offering a Bible to a patient. And this newspaper today reveals how a Christian teaching assistant was sacked after daring to raise concerns over transgender education in primary schools.
A recent survey found that 50 per cent of British Christians say that they have personally experienced prejudice.
Officials say global violence against Christians is rising dramatically, with hundreds killed every month.
Mr Hunt set up his review in December to map the persecution of Christians in ‘key countries’ in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, to provide an analysis of UK Government support and to offer recommendations for a better ‘policy response’.
Tory MP David Davies said: ‘Mr Hunt is quite right to look at the dreadful persecution Christians suffer in some countries – but he should also be mindful that many Christians suffer discrimination in our own country. He should ask the bishop to expand his inquiry’.
Tory MP Sir Gary Streeter, chairman of Christians in Parliament, added: ‘Lots of people in authority – judges, police officers, civil servants – don’t understand people who are motivated by faith. There’s certainly a case to be made that in the UK we are marginalised.’
In his article, Mr Hunt warns that many Christians around the world will today worship in fear of persecution. He says: ‘The world was rightly shocked by the flames destroying Notre-Dame in Paris... in too many parts of the world, however, it is the congregations themselves who perish.’
It follows the high-profile cases of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who faced death threats after being acquitted of blasphemy in Pakistan.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey welcomed Mr Hunt’s comments, but complained ‘it has taken many years of persuasion for the Foreign Office to even admit that the persecution of Christians is a major problem’.
In his article, Mr Hunt sets out the scale of the challenge by saying that ‘of all the people who suffer persecution for their faith, it may surprise some to know that the greatest number are Christian’ – with 245million enduring oppression worldwide.
Mr Hunt adds: ‘Some Christians will be worshipping at the scene of unspeakable atrocities’ and cites recent terrorist attacks at cathedrals in Alexandria, Egypt and in the Southern Philippines.
The Foreign Secretary added: ‘The evidence suggests that far from easing, the burden of worldwide persecution is becoming heavier.’
The message was taken up by Theresa May in her own Easter message. She said that, while she would spend the holy day ‘as I do every year, giving thanks in church… for many Christians around the world such simple acts of faith can bring huge danger. Churches have been attacked. Christians murdered. Families forced to flee their homes. We must stand up for the right of everyone, no matter what their religion, to practise their faith’.