The family of an unjustly imprisoned Briton in Dubai have accused the Foreign Office of “treating them like dirt” after David Lammy cancelled a belated meeting to discuss how to broker their loved one’s release just moments before their arrival.
Wife Heather Cornelius and brother-in-law Chris Pagett spent three hours travelling to London last Tuesday for a meeting with the foreign secretary to discuss the case of Ryan Cornelius, the 71-year-old British businessman who has spent the last 17 years languishing in a Dubai jail. He is the longest currently detained Briton on charges understood to be unfair.
The father-of-three, 71, has spent his children’s lives imprisoned over an alleged £370m fraud. The United Arab Emirates says he illegally obtained a loan from the government-affiliated Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) by bribing staff members, but the United Nations says the charge of fraud is unjust. Last month, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning his detention in “inhumane conditions” in Al-Awir prison and calling for his “immediate and unconditional release”.
The UAE says Mr Cornelius cannot be released until his debt is repaid, despite the DIB having seized assets from the British businessman exceeding £800m. Mr Cornelius accuses the DIB, which is chaired by a senior, non-royal government official, of being his “effective jailers”.
The previous foreign secretary, Lord David Cameron, met with Ms Cornelius and Mr Pagett last year to help broker Mr Cornelius’ release, but the family say the succeeding Labour government has been less helpful, despite Mr Lammy championing the need for improved advocacy for Brits arbitrarily detained abroad. Sir Keir Starmer is also reportedly on the brink of agreeing a £1.6 billion trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council, of which the UAE is a key member.
After Ms Cornelius delivered a letter to the prime minister in April calling for him to intervene, the Foreign Office got in contact to organise a meeting.
Ms Cornelius was initially hesitant, as she had requested a meeting with the prime minister, but accepted the invitation to see Mr Lammy in the hope that, even if previous negotiations with foreign secretaries had not yielded results, this latest encounter might have some positive effect.
But after days of sleepless nights in anticipation of the meeting, Ms Cornelius found herself plunged back into “ despair” and “hopelessness” on the side of the M4, as an official told her and Mr Pagett that the meeting had been suddenly cancelled.
The low-level diplomat said the meeting could not go ahead because the junior official for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, had been taken ill. They declined to explain why that would impact a meeting with Mr Lammy, or why this could not have been conveyed to them before they were nearing London for their 5.30pm appointment. They added that they would be in touch later to discuss reorganising the appointment.
In a letter sent by Mr Pagett to the Foreign Office on Wednesday morning, seen by The Independent, the brother-in-law said Ms Cornelius then broke out into a “bleak howl”.
Addressing a Foreign Office diplomat, Mr Pagett wrote: “I hope you never have to hear a member of your family emit the bleak howl of utter despair which I heard from Heather yesterday.”
Speaking later on Wednesday, Mr Pagett said he had “never been so angry” in his life, describing the way the Foreign Office had handled them as “callous”. “They make you feel like s**t,” he said.
For Mr and Ms Cornelius, this latest “kick in the teeth” from the Foreign Office causes further damage to their hopes of him ever being released. While the European parliament and the UN continue to call for Mr Cornelius’ release, the Foreign Office persists in being “shifty” and lacking in empathy, Mr Pagett said.
The Independent has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.
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