Government told to protect Christians as well as homosexuals

The Government should take a stand on countries that persecute Christians, not only those that tolerate discrimination against homosexuals, says a former Tory minister.

Ann Widdecombe is to use a speech tomorrow to accuse the Government of double standards following reports that aid is to be cut to developing African countries that have laws punishing homosexuality or restricting the rights of gay people.

In her speech to the annual Aid to the Church in Need conference, Miss Widdecombe will say that the Government’s pro-LGBT overseas aid policy is “fair” but question why it is not taking the same approach with countries that persecute Christians.

“David Cameron’s government have threatened to cut the overseas aid budget for countries which persecute homosexuals," she will say.

“Fair enough. But what about Christians? When do we qualify for such protection or don’t we?”

She will argue that the Government should also take into account a country’s track record on religious freedom when portioning up the aid budget.

“You stand a better chance of earnest representation if you are a hedgehog – and I speak as a patron of the Hedgehog Protection Society,” she will say.

In its 2011 report, ACN stated that 75 per cent of all religious persecution in the world is directed against Christians.

In Egypt this month, 25 people were killed in an unprovoked attack by the military on Copts protesting in Cairo against the destruction of a church.

Egypt’s Christian community has experienced several fatal attacks since the start of 2011, including bomb attacks on churches. The severity of the violence has prompted more than 100,000 Christians to flee the country since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in February, according to a report by the Egyptian Union of Human Rights.

In Pakistan, Christian labourer Asia Bibi is in prison awaiting execution after being sentenced to death for blasphemy last November. Two prominent ministers who spoke in her defence, the Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer and Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, were assassinated by Islamic extremists earlier in the year.

In spite of the dire situation for Christians in the Muslim-majority country, the UK is set to double aid to Pakistan to £350 million per year.

In the case of Malawi, where the country’s first openly gay couple was recently sentenced to 14 years of hard labour, aid was reportedly cut by £19 million.

Miss Widdecombe will use her speech at Westminster Cathedral Hall to call upon the Government to prioritise the defence of religious freedom in its foreign policy.

She will also encourage individual Christians to do their part in highlighting the plight of the persecuted church worldwide by praying, donating, and writing to their local MPs and Foreign Secretary William Hague.

She will say: “Today we should all begin to act. We should make it our business to follow reports about persecuted Christians.”