Back in 1998, Tony Blair wanted to advertise to the world his moral virtue and the fashionable subject of human rights seemed just the way to do it.

As a result, the annual Foreign Office report on human rights was born, as ministers spoke of “a more just and peaceful world, in which human rights are genuinely universal”.

We might expect Britain to be consistently condemning human rights violations, calling for sanctions against those who carry them out.

But, exactly 20 years later, this document no longer signals Britain’s virtue, rather it has become a grotesque embarrassment and the most eloquent statement of British double standards.

This is the reality of the 2017 edition of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Report on Human Rights and Democracy.

Please find attached the press release

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PR 0718 - HR report - UK