Sir Keir Starmer has visited the husband of Iranian detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Whitehall, saying there must be a “resolution” to the case.

Richard Ratcliffe is on the 17th day of his hunger strike camping outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national, has been illegally detained in Iran since 2016.

She had been taking the couple’s daughter, Gabriella, to see her family when she was arrested and was sentenced to five years in jail shortly afterwards, spending four years in Evin prison and one under house arrest.

Sir Keir was joined by Deputy Labour Leader Angela Rayner who told Mr Ratcliffe: “I’m really sorry that you are having to do this.”

Labour leader Sir Keir told him “there has to be a resolution to this”, adding: “I feel that there is more support now than last time.”

Mr Ratcliffe told the Labour leader he was “glad” he had visited him during his hunger strike.

Sir Keir replied: “I hope that we meet again in different circumstances.

“There is cross-party support to get you through this.”

He then signed Mr Ratcliffe’s visitors’ book and the pair posed for photographers with a photo of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Afterwards Mr Ratcliffe told the PA news agency that it was “nice” to meet Sir Keir again.

“It was nice”, he said.

“He’s a nice man. He was very sincere and decent.

“He asked if there was anything I wanted. I said that the Government had been complacent. He said they would challenge that complacency.”

He added: “I felt like they have got our back.”

Mr Ratcliffe said that he has yet to secure another meeting with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, although his representatives are “pushing” for one.

“We would expect one this month or next month,” he said.

He last met Ms Truss two weeks ago.

“The last meeting ended awkwardly, ended with a sense of this is just not working.”

However, he felt his campaign has had some success, with the Iranian deputy prime minister now due to visit London on Thursday.

“That’s a direct consequence”, he said.

He will try to continue his hunger strike until then. “If the body will hold out,” he added.