Freedom of Religion or Belief: UK Foreign Policy

The debate

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Backbench Business — in Westminster Hall at 1:30 pm on 17 July 2025.

David Smith Labour, North Northumberland 1:30, 17 July 2025
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the role of freedom of religion or belief in UK foreign policy.
It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for granting the debate, and to all colleagues who have joined me to discuss this urgent, important and powerful subject. A great number of Members who have sponsored my debate are unable to attend because of pressing considerations, and I therefore give honourable mentions to my hon. Friend Adam Jogee and to the hon. Members for York Central (Rachael Maskell), for South Northamptonshire (Sarah Bool) and for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), and Sir Iain Duncan Smith — as well as to the many Members who have showed up. This is a cross-cutting and cross-party issue, and I hope the debate can go ahead in that spirit.
Last week, I launched the Government’s new freedom of religion or belief — FORB — strategy at the Foreign Office. It is a bold strategy that is good for Britain, and I will talk more about it in a moment, but I want to start with my own experience of championing FORB, which started long before the Prime Minister asked me to be the UK special envoy last December. Growing up, my parents were involved in…