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Efforts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted Keir Starmer’s government from focusing on bread-and-butter home affairs, according to one of the prime minister’s closest ex-aides.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the PM's chief of strategy, claimed the case of the British political prisoner became a “running joke” among those in Whitehall frustrated by the lack of progress of change.

“We'd hold long meetings on the key goals of the government, and frequently they would be railroaded via AOB into discussions of this individual,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “The majority on the political team of government were largely unaware of it – not closely following it – because it didn't affect us on a day-to-day basis. It actually became a sort of a running joke within government that people would invariably find a way to return to this topic.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden argued the significant focus spent on the activist's case was indicative of a government that has found it difficult to stay focused on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “well-connected” activist groups and quasi-independent agencies.

Ovenden’s comments came in his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, after it was revealed he sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

However, Ovenden’s political analysis is shared by many in Number 10, including the prime minister, who complained last month about excessive red tape delaying government action.

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was among a number of areas where the government was sidetracked from its primary goals. He cited controversies over compensation for historical injustices and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as other instances.

“When the public is getting more and more frustrated, more and more fed up with a lack of progress, more and more fed up with side issues, in my opinion, we cannot justify to be spending their time on what I consider diversions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a further article, he calls on the government to scale back environmental regulations, reduce benefits expenditure and even end the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“It is not necessary to keep picking the pockets of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to fund inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he writes. “There is no need to stifle small businesses from the outset with excessive regulation.”

Having been part of a handful of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his departure was seen by many as a setback to Starmer, even as his analysis of governmental focus resonates in certain quarters.