This week, Toby joined with colleagues across Parliament for the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Radcliffe who is still stuck in Iran.

Whilst Richard Radcliffe was on hunger strike, Toby visited him outside the Foreign Office to show his support and pass on the best wishes of his constituents.

Many residents across Chesterfield have contacted Toby about Nazanin’s plight and expressing their solidarity for her husband, Richard, during his hunger strike which lasted for 21 days.

Despite meeting with the Foreign Secretary during his hunger strike, and assurances that every effort is being made for the safe return of Nazanin (who has been imprisoned since 2016) there has been no resolution in this matter.

Following this, a Westminster Hall debate was tabled by her local MP, Tulip Siddiq, to raise the issue of Nazanin’s plight and to urge the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to take urgent action.

Toby said: “The imprisonment and ransom of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe needs to be resolved. It is wrong for a country to use a situation like this to pursue international objectives. The government needs to do more to achieve the return of Nazanin and I support those like my shadow ministerial colleague Tulip Siddiq in pressing the issue.”

He also said: “Our current Prime Minister has been a contributing factor to the plight of Nazanin by his comments he made as Foreign Secretary. It is also an indictment that the Prime Minister didn’t visit Richard Radcliffe when he was on hunger strike.”

Toby stated: “I have to say that the debate was one of the best attended Westminster Hall debates I have ever seen, and the strength of opinion on this issue is overwhelming. Due to the numbers there, I wasn’t able to make a substantive speech and was only able to make a brief intervention, but it did at least allow me to pass on our support on behalf of the dozens of people who have written to me.”