Keep pledge on Britons held abroad, Lammy told

Families of prominent British prisoners detained abroad have urged the foreign secretary to deliver on pledges to help secure their release amid signs of growing resistance from diplomats.

- Patrick Wintour, Geneva Abdul

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, vowed in opposition to appoint a special envoy to help secure the freedom of those detained for years without a fair trial. Giving British citizens in trouble overseas a legal right to consular access was also a Labour manifesto pledge. But there are fears that pushback against the envoy plan in particular is being mounted by senior UK diplomats who fear it would cut across relationships with countries and affect trade deals, the Guardian has been told.

Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained in Iran for six years, said: "My personal worry is that Lammy will miss the opportunity to change this and the special envoy will be stalled by civil servants until he leaves office. I saw it happen too often with previous foreign secretaries. Helpful initiatives get delayed.

Ending individual injustices get deflected. There is little action, lots of 'yes, minister'." Lammy's office said he had not shelved the plans, with meetings under way inside the department on the practical details of the envoy and right to consular assistance.

But Alicia Kearns, former chair of the foreign affairs select committee, who set up an all-party parliamentary group on the issue, said she had never seen such resistance to a proposal from within the department.