FOREIGN Secretary Philip Hammond was accused yesterday of “soft pedalling” over the death penalty and undermining his own department’s work by deprioritising human rights.

A report by the foreign affairs select committee found that funding for the Foreign Office’s (FCO) dedicated human rights programme has been doubled to £10.6 million.

But the committee, chaired by Tory MP Crispin Blunt, said Mr Hammond and other Tory ministers have “generated a perception that their work on human rights has become less important.”