The Chief Rabbi has called on Britain's Jewish community to support Christians in the Middle East who are living "in fear" of persecution.

Speaking during a Lords debate last Friday on the situation of minorities in the wake of the Arab Spring, Lord Sacks said that the "fate of Christians in the Middle East today is the litmus test of the Arab Spring".

Lord Sacks, who apologised for having to leave the debate early for Shabbat, said that "as a Jew in Christian Britain", he and his parents owed much to "this great Christian nation, which gave us the right and the freedom to live our faith without fear.

"Shall we not, therefore, as Jews, stand up for the right of Christians in other parts of the world to live their faith without fear?" he asked.

The issue was raised by the Archbishop of Canterbury to highlight his concern that Arab Christian life was "more vulnerable than it has been for centuries".