THE next moderator of the Free Church in Scotland has forcefully attacked politicians for failing to protect Christians around the world.

In a strongly worded open letter addressed to all of the UK's political leaders, the Reverend David Robertson, who will take up the moderator's role in May, has asked why they have done nothing "for the most prosecuted people in the world".

The Dundee minister also condemned the recent promise to make LGBTI rights a central plank of foreign policy as "cheap populism" and said something has to be done for the third of the world's population who are Christian and being persecuted for their beliefs.

In the letter he writes: "I have no doubt that you are sincere in your desire to advocate and fight for the rights of the one per cent of the population that are LGBTI - and please don't misunderstand me.

"I too have written against the homophobia of Putin and the cruelty of the proposed Uganda 'gay' bill. I am not arguing that you should not seek to deal with these things. But there is also part of me that thinks that this is easy for you, it costs you virtually nothing. It's cheap populism.

"But for the third of the world's population who are Christian you seem to have little time or money."

Mr Robertson cited the beheading of 21 Christians in Libya last week as an example of the cruelties being inflicted on Christians, but added that it was just the tip of the iceberg.

"In India Christians have been regularly murdered by extremist Hindu militias, in China the Communist Party has stepped up a programme of destroying churches and has banned Christians from being in government; in Iraq the number of Christians has been cut from 500,000 to less than 100,000; in Syria many Christians have been forced to flee their homes; in Nigeria the killing of Christians has become so routine that it hardly registers in our media, unless there is some particularly gruesome aspect to it. And there is much, much more.

"Why have you done nothing for the most persecuted people in the world?"

He said politicians should refuse aid to countries where discrimination against Christians is enshrined in law, pointing to the example of Malaysia where becoming a Christian is a crime or Saudi Arabia where having a Bible is punishable by flogging.

"We long for the day when some sane Western politician will have the guts and the gumption to stand up and say: 'No, enough. We are not prepared to ditch the foundation and basis of our Western civilisation. And we are not prepared to fund, support and encourage those who kill in the name of their religion'."

Last year more than 100,000 Christians were killed because of their faith.