The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her local MP have hit out at the Government over its response to a report on state hostage taking.

Richard Ratcliffe and Hampstead and Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq described the Government’s response to the Foreign Affairs Committee’s (FAC’s) April report as “incredibly disappointing”.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a UK-Iranian dual national from West Hampstead, was detained in Iran for almost six years in a long-running diplomatic dispute.

The committee’s report on the Government’s handling of hostage diplomacy condemned its approach to cases such as that of Nazanin's.

In its response released today (July 6), the Government rejected the FAC’s recommendation that a post of director for arbitrary and complex detentions be established.

The Government added that it did not accept that changes in ministers responsible for detention cases “affected the pace of resolution” in the instances analysed in the report.

Following the Government’s response, Conservative chair of the committee Alicia Kearns MP urged ministers to improve their engagement with, and “embrace constructive feedback” on, the issue.

She said: “State hostage taking and arbitrary detention are heinous and destructive crimes.

“In our report…we called out the poor communication and generic, standardised responses issued to the families with loved ones in arbitrary detention.

“Unfortunately, the Government's response to our inquiry follows the same disappointing pattern.”

Richard Ratcliffe and Tulip Siddiq MP have now echoed these comments, claiming that the Government response “denies the basic facts of the issue”.

They said: “It beggars belief that after everything Nazanin went through and the detailed work of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Government is still refusing to take the issue seriously.

“How can we possibly learn lessons for the future if ministers can’t recognise and accept what has been happening until now, even when the evidence is plainly in front of them?

“We urge the Government to think again about their response to this important report and take a look in the mirror at how their own behaviour has exacerbated the risk to UK citizens.”

Alicia Kearns MP is set to give a select committee statement in Westminster Hall at 1.30pm today.