Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why they invited Pakistani clerics Hassan Haseeb-ur-Rehman and Muhammad Naqib-ur-Rahmam to the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief in July; and what assessment they made of the effect those invitations would have on religious harmony and social cohesion in the UK and beyond.

The UK Government consulted with international and domestic partners and set up a Conference Advisory Committee (CAC) with representatives from a range of religion or belief communities, academia and human rights groups to consider invitees to the UK-hosted Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB).

In the spirit of fostering a healthy dialogue and promoting open societies, we invited a wide and diverse range of participants from over 120 countries. We successfully brought together over 800 faith and belief leaders, human rights actors, civil society and 100 government delegations to agree and work towards joint action on promoting FoRB for all.