It is the British Government's longstanding policy to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and in all countries. In Pakistan, we remain deeply concerned by the misuse of blasphemy laws, and that religious minorities, including Christians, are disproportionately affected. The harsh penalties for blasphemy, including the death penalty, add to these concerns.<\/p>
We regularly raise our human rights concerns with the Government of Pakistan at a senior level. My colleague, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, raised our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief and the protection of minority religious communities with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister in February 2019.<\/p>
To ensure the United Kingdom is providing the right levels of support to persecuted Christians overseas, the Foreign Secretary asked the Bishop of Truro, Rt Revd. Philip Mounstephen, to carry out an independent review. The Bishop has submitted his interim report; with the full report due later this year.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1405", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mark Field"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Cities of London and Westminster"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mark Field"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-13T15:36:35.04Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Pakistan: Christianity"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support Christians on death row in Pakistan on charges of blasphemy.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4450", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Luke Hall"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Thornbury and Yate"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Luke Hall"} ], "uin" : "261522"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130724", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for International Development"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130724/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The UK Aid Strategy commits the UK to be the lead on the \u201cLeave No One Behind\u201d promise. Our analysis of poverty and vulnerability looks at a range of factors that lead to exclusion including religious identity. Humanitarian assistance is provided on need, irrespective of race, religion or ethnicity and we work to ensure that aid reaches the most vulnerable including those from religious minorities.<\/p>
<\/p>
We work closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who lead on the protection of freedom of religion and religious minorities.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4107", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Harriett Baldwin"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "West Worcestershire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Harriett Baldwin"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-14T13:40:13.8Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "20"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "International Development"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "International Development"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Overseas Aid: Christianity"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that UK aid reaches persecuted Christians.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4450", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Luke Hall"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Thornbury and Yate"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Luke Hall"} ], "uin" : "261524"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1054026", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1054026/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Since 2010, we have reformed the national curriculum, GCSEs and A levels to set world-class standards across all subjects.<\/p>
We have also committed to 75% of pupils in state-funded mainstream schools studying the EBacc combination of core academic subjects by September 2022 and 90% by September 2025.<\/p>
The attainment gap between those from disadvantaged backgrounds and other pupils has fallen by 13% in primary schools and 9.5% at Key Stage 4 since 2011.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/111", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Nick Gibb"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bognor Regis and Littlehampton"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Nick Gibb"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-02-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-02-04T17:01:15.41Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-02-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Schools: Standards"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "What steps his Department has taken to raise educational standards in schools.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4450", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Luke Hall"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Thornbury and Yate"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Luke Hall"} ], "uin" : "908975"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }