The former foreign secretary, Mr Hunt, who also ran to be prime minister, pledged to enact the recommendations of the Bishop of Truro, Rt Rev Philip Mountstephen, that were made in a report into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) support of those discriminated because of their Christian faith around the world.

Mr Hunt told Premier during the campaign that the first thing he would do as PM would be to work with countries whom Britain already has a diplomatic relationship with, such as Nigeria and India, and encourage them to protect persecuted Christians.

However, Mr Hunt is now neither PM nor foreign secretary and will now be returning to the backbenches, with Dominic Raab taking his place.

With fresh faces in the department, Christian charities are calling on the new arrivals to not let their work on this issue collect dust.

Religious freedom charity Open Doors told Premier they are: “urging the new prime minister, Boris Johnson, to keep his promise to ‘prioritise protecting religious freedoms’ and ‘stand up for those facing persecution’ and Open Doors is calling upon the new foreign secretary, Dominic Raab to carry on the vital work started by his predecessor and implement the recommendations of the report into the persecution of Christians.”

They added that they are pleased that shadow foreign office minister, Liz McInnes asked for the FCO to focus on…

Judge Mohammad Moghiseh refused to hear the case of Pastor Matthias Haghnejad, Shahrouz Eslamdoust, Babak Hosseinzadeh, Behnam Akhlaghi, Mehdi Khatibi until they agreed to replace their attorney.

The judge also refused to hear the case of four other members of the Church of Iran denomination who had decided to present their own defence.

Pastor Haghnejad and Mr Eslamdoust have been detained in Evin Prison in Tehran, while Mr Hosseinzadeh, Mr Akhlaghi and Mr Khatibi, who were transported to an unknown location, had their bail set at 160,000 Euros each.

The trial is set to resume in a few days on 28th July.

According to the Iran Prison Atlas, Judge Moghiseh – a cleric – has presided over the trials of many political prisoners and is iamous for having issued numerous death sentences.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said: “This case highlights once again the lack of due process in Iran’s Revolutionary Courts.

“The judge’s arbitrary and unwarranted decision to punish these Christians, simply for wanting to be represented by a lawyer of their choice, constitutes a grave violation of article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is party, and which stipulates, amongst other things, the right to legal assistance of one’s choosing.

“We urge the Iranian authorities to ensure that the…

Not a single girl has been born in a district of Uttarakhand in northern India since April, while 216 newborn boys have been recorded.

Authorities suspect that sex-selective terminations have been carried out in as many as 132 villages in the region.

Abortion by gender was banned in India 25 years ago, following a growing problem with mistreatment towards girls – with many being abandoned, starved and killed at birth.

Anushree Bernard from the Vanishing Girls campaign by religious freedom charity ADF International – which works to end the practise of aborting girls in the womb – told Premier the number of girls being born in India has been decreasing for many years: “The last census that was conducted in the year 2011 in India, there was a complete drastic decline in the child sex ratio between the age group of zero to six years in India, with only 918 girls for every thousand boys.”

Ms Bernard said that many parents chose to abort girls because of the potential financial pressures they can bring.

Sons are favoured in the culture as traditionally they are expected to provide economic stability for the family, whilst women are given in marriage and a dowry payment is required.

She explained: “When a girl gets married, the girl’s family has to pay a certain amount as gifts to the son in law in return for the marriage. The fathers always have this thought in the back…

The new status will enable the charity to have access to all relevant documentation and can help guide the inquiry.

Core Participant status can be given to an individual, organisation or institution that has a specific interest in the work of the Inquiry.

The new investigation will review the current child protection policies and procedures in religious institutions in England and Wales, including non-conformist Christian denominations and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Those within the Islamic, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu and Buddhist faiths will also be reviewed.

Thirtyone:eight will be represented throughout the investigation by its CEO, Justin Humphreys.

Humphreys said in a statement: “We feel immensely privileged to have been given this opportunity to work alongside the Inquiry in this way.

“There are few organisations that have worked so closely with faith-based organisations for as long as we have to support best practice in safeguarding.

“This has helped us to gain unrivalled knowledge, understanding and expertise that is now clearly important to the Inquiry as they explore the extent to which children have been and are protected in this wider range of organisations and settings.

“Today’s decision is recognition of this and we accept the responsibility this carries with humility and a desire to see further strengthening of safeguarding across the faith…