The cleaners, porters and maintenance workers at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office—which Hunt is in charge of—demand to be “treated with respect”.

The members of the PCS union have battled against outsourcer Interserve over issues including pay and redundancies for several months.

Their five day strike—which began on Monday of this week—came after a change in pay dates left them without wages for six weeks.

Strikers want Hunt to intervene—and ultimately to be brought back in-house.

Speaking to the rally, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said, “Jeremy Hunt has just scuttled past. You’re on strike here because you’re being treated appallingly by the Foreign Office.

“We’re not budging at all until we get it resolved.”