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Efforts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted the Starmer administration from focusing on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, according to one of the prime minister’s closest ex-aides.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

Paul Ovenden, who stood down last year as the prime minister’s director of strategy, said the case of the British political prisoner evolved into a “recurring punchline” among those in Whitehall exasperated with the lack of progress of change.

“We'd hold extended discussions on the priorities 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 continued, “Most of us on the political team of government weren’t that aware of it – not closely following it – because it didn’t impact us daily. It actually became a sort of a standing joke within government that people would invariably find a way to bring it back to this conversation.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden said the significant focus spent on the activist's case was symptomatic of a government that has found it difficult to remain concentrated on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “influential” activist groups and quasi-independent agencies.

Ovenden’s comments came in his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, following revelations he sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

But, Ovenden’s assessment is echoed by many in Number 10, including the prime minister, who complained last month about bureaucratic hurdles slowing government action.

Ovenden stated Abd el-Fattah’s case was among a number of areas where the government was sidetracked from its primary goals. He cited controversies over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as other instances.

“At a time 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 distraction, 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 further article, he urges the government to scale back green rules, cut benefits expenditure and even end the triple-lock on pensions.

“We don’t have to keep taking money of the productive parts of our economy in order to pay for above-inflation pension rises for the wealthy or an unsustainable welfare system,” he argues. “There is no need to strangle small businesses from the outset with excessive regulation.”

Having been part of a handful of advisers around the prime minister since his days in opposition, his departure was widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, even as his analysis of governmental focus finds sympathy in certain quarters.