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Efforts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah frequently diverted Keir Starmer’s government from concentrating on bread-and-butter home affairs, according to a former member of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.

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 imprisoned activist evolved into a “running joke” among those in Whitehall exasperated with the lack of progress of change.

“We'd hold long meetings on the priorities of the government, and often they would be railroaded via any other business into conversations of this individual,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He continued, “Most of us on the political team of government were largely unaware of it – not closely following it – because it didn’t impact us on a day-to-day basis. It actually became a bit of a kind of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this conversation.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden argued the amount of time dedicated to the activist's case was symptomatic of a government that has struggled to remain concentrated on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “well-connected” activist groups and arms-length bodies.

These remarks were made during his first public intervention since he resigned in September, following revelations he had sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

However, Ovenden’s assessment is echoed by many in Downing Street, 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 was sidetracked from its primary goals. He cited rows over compensation for historical injustices and prohibiting cigarettes in outdoor hospitality areas as other instances.

“At a time when the public is getting increasingly impatient, more and more fed up with inaction, more and more fed up with distraction, in my opinion, we cannot justify to be using valuable time on what I consider diversions,” he said.

Calls for Policy Overhaul

In a separate piece, he calls on the government to roll back environmental regulations, reduce welfare spending and even end the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“We don’t have to keep taking money of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to pay for above-inflation pension rises for the wealthy or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “We don’t have to strangle entrepreneurs 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 departure was seen by many as a setback to Starmer, even as his analysis of governmental focus resonates in certain quarters.