Theresa May has come under pressure from Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates over efforts to fight religious persecution around the world.

Both Labour and the Lib Dems are promising to create a specialist religious freedom ambassador to raise the issue with countries around the world, but the Conservatives have failed to follow suite.

Championed by Labour's faith envoy Stephen Timms, the party's manifesto vows to create 'dedicated global ambassadors for women's rights, LGBT rights and religious freedom to fight discrimination and promote equality around the world'.

Speaking to Christian Today at a hustings on international development on Wednesday night Timms accused the Tories of not prioritising religious freedom.

'It ought to be back at the top [of the agenda],' he told Christian Today.

'If you look at what is happening to Christians and the churches in Egypt in just the last week its terrible. There are a lot of Christians around the world suffering in a way that wasn't the case 10 or 15 years ago.

'And there are a lot of other religious minorities suffering as well – the Yazidis and many others.

'The appointment of a dedicated religious freedom ambassador whose role was to protect religious freedom around the world would be a very powerful move raising this up the list of priorities for the UK and saying to others around the world this is an issue we feel very strongly about.'

Claire Mathys, Lib Dem candidate for Mitcham and Morden, agreed.

'I think we should be playing a much a bigger role [fighting persecution]. The UK should appoint a dedicated global ambassador for religious minorities,' she told Christian Today.

'I think having an ambassador for religious freedom would really help to raise awareness domestically and play a crucial role in how we communicate abroad in terms of the messages it sends when we are dealing with other countries.'

The Prime Minister has spoken about the importance of religious freedom in the UK, saying Britian should be confident about the role of Christianity in public life.

'We should treasure the strong tradition that we have in this country of religious tolerance and freedom of speech,' she said in her Easter message.

'We must continue to ensure that people feel able to speak about their faith, and that absolutely includes their faith in Christ.

'We must be mindful of Christians and religious minorities around the world who do not enjoy these same freedoms, but who practise their religion in secret and often in fear.

'And we must do more to stand up for the freedom of people of all religions to practise their beliefs openly and in peace and safety.'

The manifesto pledges to 'expand our global efforts to combat extremism, terror, and the perpetration of violence against people because of their faith'.

But if offers no concrete action on how to do this and both Timms and Mathys warned about a lack of commitment.