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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, according to a former member of the PM's inner circle of ex-aides.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

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

“We would be having extended discussions on the priorities of the government, and often they would be derailed via any other business into discussions of this individual,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “The majority on the political side of government weren’t that aware of it – not closely following it – because it didn’t impact us daily. It truly turned into a bit of a kind of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this topic.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden argued the amount of time dedicated to the activist's case was symptomatic of a government that has found it difficult to remain concentrated on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “well-connected” campaign organisations and quasi-independent agencies.

These remarks were made during his initial public statement since he resigned in September, following revelations he had sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

However, Ovenden’s political analysis is echoed by many in Number 10, even the prime minister, who complained last month about bureaucratic hurdles slowing government action.

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government became distracted from its primary goals. He cited rows 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, increasingly tired with side issues, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be using valuable time on what I consider diversions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a separate piece, he urges the government to roll back environmental regulations, cut benefits expenditure and even end the triple-lock on pensions.

“We don’t have 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 at birth with regulatory burdens.”

As one of a small group of advisers around the prime minister since his days in opposition, his exit was widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, even as his analysis of governmental focus finds sympathy in certain quarters.