Last week people gathered to observe Red Wednesday — a day started by Aid to the Church in Need to raise awareness of those Christians persecuted for their faith around the world, of which Open Doors estimates there to be 365 million. Buildings, including the Palace of Westminster, were lit up red to honour the victims of anti-Christian persecution.

Sadly, however. a lights show seems the extent of the Labour Government’s concern for violations of religious freedom. Four months into his time as Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer has still yet to appoint a Special Envoy for International Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), despite election campaign promises to “be a champion” of religious freedom. 

Bruce was right to be pessimistic about what a Labour Government would mean for the FCDO’s prioritisation of religious freedom

Starmer’s inaction on this front threatens to undo the achievements made by the UK in this domain over the past few years. For what it’s worth, the Conservative Party’s track record on promoting religious freedom abroad was pretty decent. While serving as Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt elevated the priority of freedom of religion or belief for the Foreign Office, and commissioned the landmark Truro Review into global Christian persecution. That review recommended the Government establish a Special Envoy role “permanently and in perpetuity” with appropriate resources. Slowly, but surely, the Conservatives began implementing that recommendation along with others from the report. In 2022, they established a Deputy Special Envoy to support the role, and before the General Election there were three staff supporting the Envoy. In the last few years the UK also played a key role in establishing the International Religion and Belief Alliance.

The last Special Envoy for FoRB, former MP for Congleton Fiona Bruce, made strides in getting religious freedom on the Government’s agenda and worked to ensure the “perpetuity” element of the Truro recommendation. Prior to the General Election, Bruce drafted a Private Member’s Bill that would have put the role on a statutory footing. Indeed, she sensed that a Labour Government might undermine the efforts achieved to date. Speaking at the presentation of her Bill, she said: 

“We need to ensure that the energy and momentum of the current special envoy team endure beyond the next general election and that they are given better and more adequate and substantive departmental support in the FCDO. This is an area in which the UK is now seen as a global leader.” 

Bruce was right to be pessimistic about what a Labour Government would mean for the FCDO’s prioritisation of religious freedom. Despite calls from leading FoRB advocates to appoint a Special Envoy, the post remains vacant. When an International Ministerial Conference on FoRB was held in Berlin last month, our Government sent nameless “FCDO officials” — a far cry from when the UK hosted the same high level conference in 2022 and the then Foreign Secretary attended. 

Appointing a Special Envoy, and perhaps later enshrining the position in legislation, isn’t a silver bullet in the fight for religious freedom. But it’s a starting point with few substantial arguments against. Five other countries have appointed a Special Envoy for this briefing since 2018, and the European Union also has an Envoy for FoRB. So far the US is the only country to put the role on statutory footing, but Fiona Bruce’s Private Member’s Bill (and a similar one introduced by Jim Shannon MP for this parliament) shows that the UK could follow suit. 

How much longer must the persecuted be ignored by the Labour Government?

Leaving the post vacant achieves nothing. Little is lost by giving a backbench MP a slightly swanky title, but a lot could be gained. Given that 80 percent of religious discrimination worldwide targets Christians, Christians will of course appreciate efforts to promote religious freedom. But prioritising the right to express one’s faith benefits more than just followers of Jesus. The FoRB network in Britain boasts a particularly diverse membership. Ahmadis, Baha’is, and Copts are just some of those communities that would benefit from greater safeguards against their religious freedom abroad — and communities of those faiths in the UK would be grateful for a government that worked to ensure their relatives’ exercise of this fundamental human right. 

For a former human rights lawyer, Starmer’s reluctance to appoint a Special Envoy for FoRB seems particularly short sighted. Freedom of religion or belief is a bellwether human right; if it is under attack, you can guarantee that other human rights will be violated too. Hatred of people’s religious convictions drives other injustices, including poverty and sexual violence. Failing to use British diplomacy to champion religious freedom leaves millions of people vulnerable to increasing and compounding levels of persecution. 

Perhaps Starmer’s inaction is owing to his party’s own anti-Christian prejudice. Labour’s contribution to the second reading of Fiona Bruce’s Private Member’s Bill was to invent conflicts with so-called reproductive and LGBT rights. Catherine West MP warned “it would be wrong to give the impression that we are putting rights in a hierarchy.” She asked:

“How would we balance the other rights that may occasionally collide with this question of a special envoy for freedom of religion or belief? For example, there are sincere concerns about backsliding in any area relating to women and girls in any part of the world, with particular reference to their reproductive rights. Similarly, there are concerns about the message it may send to the global LGBT+ community.”

Forget the one in seven Christians who are persecuted for their faith – Labour have to think about the optics of defending the right to practise one’s faith and the impact those optics might have on the trans community… Good grief.

How much longer must the persecuted be ignored by the Labour Government? How many more lives must be brutally murdered for their faith before Labour take action? Until Starmer appoints a Special Envoy for FoRB, let there be no illusion about the hierarchy they put on human rights, and where rights of Christians and those of other faiths rank.