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Attempts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted the Starmer administration from focusing on core home affairs, according to a former member of the PM's inner circle of former advisers.

A 'Running Joke' Within Government

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

“We would be having long meetings on the priorities of the government, and frequently they would be derailed via AOB into discussions of this individual,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “The majority on the political team of government were largely unaware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn’t impact us daily. It actually became a bit of a kind of a standing joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this conversation.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden said the amount of time spent on freeing Abd el-Fattah was indicative of a government that has struggled to stay focused on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “influential” campaign organisations and quasi-independent agencies.

Ovenden’s comments were made during his initial public statement since he resigned in September, following revelations he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

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

Ovenden stated Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several 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 other instances.

“At a time when the public is getting more and more frustrated, ever more disillusioned with a lack of progress, increasingly tired 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 further article, he calls on the government to roll back environmental regulations, reduce benefits expenditure and even end the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“It is not necessary to keep taking money of the productive parts of our economy in order to fund inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unsustainable welfare system,” he writes. “There is no need to strangle entrepreneurs from the outset with regulatory burdens.”

As one of a handful of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his exit was seen by many as a setback to Starmer, while his analysis of governmental focus resonates in certain quarters.