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Efforts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted the Starmer administration from concentrating on bread-and-butter home affairs, as stated by one of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.

A 'Running Joke' Within Government

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the prime minister’s director of strategy, claimed the case of the British political prisoner became a “running joke” among those in government exasperated with the slow pace of change.

“We would be having extended discussions on the key goals of the government, and frequently they would be derailed via AOB into conversations of this individual,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “Most of us on the political team of government were largely unaware of it – not closely following it – because it didn’t impact us daily. It actually became a bit of a kind of a running joke within government that people would invariably find a way to return to this conversation.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden said the amount of time dedicated to freeing Abd el-Fattah was indicative of a government that has found it difficult to remain concentrated on voters’ core priorities 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 had sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

But, Ovenden’s assessment is shared by many in Downing Street, even the prime minister, who complained last month about excessive red tape slowing government action.

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was among a number of areas where the government became distracted from its main objectives. He cited rows over compensation for historical injustices and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as further examples.

“At a time when the public is getting more and more frustrated, ever more disillusioned with inaction, more and more fed up with side issues, in my opinion, we cannot justify to be using valuable 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, cut welfare spending and even scrap the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“We don’t have to keep picking the pockets of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to pay for inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unsustainable welfare system,” he argues. “There is no need to stifle small businesses at birth with regulatory burdens.”

Having been part of a small group of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his exit was widely regarded as a setback to Starmer, while his analysis of Whitehall priorities finds sympathy in certain quarters.