UK – The Guardian, July 14, 2026
Alistair Burt will bring diplomatic clout to complex cases involving human rights violations and arbitrary detention
The Foreign Office has appointed a special envoy for British citizens detained overseas, a new role to deal with “complex consular cases” such as that of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian dual national who was imprisoned in Tehran for six years.
Alistair Burt, the former Conservative Middle East minister, has taken on the role, fulfilling a pledge by David Lammy when he was shadow foreign secretary.
It was made after criticism of how the Foreign Office handled the cases of British citizens detained overseas, including the failure to provide consistent support or diplomatic muscle to secure their release. The proposals were backed by Alicia Kearns, then the chair of the foreign affairs select committee.
There was a strong view that the US special presidential envoy for hostages had secured more success and clout inside the diplomatic system, and used more innovative techniques to negotiate the release of Americans.
Burt was tipped for the post more than a year ago. The delay in the appointment appears to have been a result of Foreign Office concerns that an envoy advocating in public for the release of detainees might cut across normal bilateral diplomatic priorities. The Foreign Office instinct in such cases is to avoid publicity.
