Senior Whitehall insiders turned on Jeremy Hunt on Thursday night over the jailing of a British student in the Gulf, claiming  the Foreign Secretary had upset two crown princes by ‘lecturing’ them on human rights.

A well-placed Government source suggested Mr Hunt’s attempt to intervene in Matthew Hedges’ case on a tour of the region 10 days ago had backfired spectacularly.

Mr Hedges, 31, a Durham University phd student originally from Exeter, was jailed for life on Wednesday, having spent six months in solitary confinement, over allegations he was an MI6 spy.

The ruling by a court in Abu Dhabi had caught the British Government off guard and has plunged the UK and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) …