Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress he has made on implementing recommendation 8 of the Truro Review in accordance with the Government’s Manifesto commitment on ensuring that the UK is prepared to impose sanctions against perpetrators of freedom of religion and belief abuses; and what work on that recommendation remains outstanding.

The Government has committed to implementing in full the recommendations in the Bishop of Truro's review, and work continues to implement them in a way that will bring real improvement to the lives of those persecuted due to their faith or belief. Of the 22 recommendations we have fully delivered ten, made good progress on a further eight, and are confident that all 22 will be delivered by the time of the independent review in 2022. On Recommendation 8, the Global Human Rights Sanctions regime was launched on 6 July 2020. It is not appropriate to speculate on who may be designated under the regime in the future, as to do so could reduce the impact. We will continue to consider further designations, guided by the human rights objectives of the sanctions regime and the evidence.