Hunt, a committed Christian, said: “We wanted to do this not just because freedom of worship is a fundamental human right, but because also freedom of worship is the invisible line between open societies and closed societies.”

He added he wanted “to banish any hesitation to look into this issue without fear or favour that may exist because of our imperial history, because of the concerns that some people might have in linking the activities of missionaries in the 19th century to misguided imperialism”.

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He said evidence showed 80% of the people suffering religious persecution are Christians. He insisted this was not about asserting the rights of white wealthy Christians, but the religious freedom of some of the poorest people in the world.

He identified countries that are sites of persecution: Egypt, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, North Korea, but also China and India. He cited the example of Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman imprisoned on death row after she was accused of blasphemy. The supreme court of Pakistan upheld her acquittal this week.