The fate and welfare of John Armstrong and his fellow prisoners in India are high priorities for the British government, a Foreign Office minister insists.

Minister Hugo Swire said he, Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond had raised the prisoners’ situation with their Indian counterparts more than 30 times.

“Every time we meet we put it on the list of things to raise,” Mr Swire said after he and members of the FCO met with families of the imprisoned Britons yesterday at the Halston Hotel on Warwick Road, Carlisle.

Last month, Mr Cameron raised the issue with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and the new high commissioner, Dominic Asquith, who has been in post six weeks, has already visited the prisoners and the state governor of Tamil Nadu, where the men stood trial.

Mr Swire said of Mr Asquith’s visit: “That’s not something that would normally happen to a prisoner so I think on that level we’re giving more. And at the political level we are raising it every time we meet our Indian opposite numbers.”

He added: “The government knows that we take this extremely seriously. We’re on the case and we want swift justice.”

Mr Swire is sure that the points he and other politicians have raised have filtered down to Tamil Nadu but he said the southern state was fiercely independent from government in Delhi.

A further problem is the Foreign Office cannot interfere with the judicial process.

“We have to operate within the confines of what we can achieve,” said Mr Swire. “If you’ve got a loved one in jail in a foreign place, you want that loved one back, right or wrong, and of course we can’t do that.

“Everyone has to abide by the laws of that country and the judicial process but what we can do is to keep on raising the profile high, raising it at a political level and making sure that we are vigilant about the welfare of the men.”

At the meeting yesterday the welfare of the imprisoned men was on the top of the agenda.

Mr Swire wanted to find out from families who have recently visited what conditions they had encountered, including food, exercise, mattresses and lighting.

The minister said: “[The families] were saying for instance that getting fresh fruit in can be hit and miss and things like that. These are issues we can look at.

“They have got more privileges than an Indian prisoner in the next door block – they would not be enjoying the same privileges they can get.

“We’ve been able to increase the amount of visits.

“We’re always looking at ways to improve their welfare because they’re in a very confined space and they’ve been there for a long time and understandably they’re frustrated, and that’s an understatement.”

Mr Swire stressed that the Foreign Office and politicians were doing everything that they could and giving more consular assistance than normal.

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