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Efforts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted Keir Starmer’s government from focusing on bread-and-butter home affairs, as stated by one of the prime minister’s closest 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 imprisoned activist evolved into a “running joke” among those in government exasperated with the slow pace of change.

“We'd hold long meetings on the key goals of the government, and frequently they would be derailed via AOB into discussions of this gentleman,” 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 – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn't affect us on a day-to-day basis. It truly turned into a sort 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 said the amount of time dedicated to the activist's case was symptomatic of a government that has found it difficult to stay focused on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “influential” activist groups and arms-length bodies.

Ovenden’s comments were made during his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, following revelations he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

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

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government became distracted from its main objectives. He pointed to controversies over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in outdoor hospitality areas as further examples.

“When the public is getting increasingly impatient, more and more fed up with inaction, increasingly tired with side issues, in my opinion, we cannot justify to be spending their time on what I consider diversions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a separate piece, he urges the government to scale back green rules, reduce benefits expenditure and even end the triple-lock on pensions.

“It is not necessary 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 writes. “There is no need to stifle entrepreneurs at birth with regulatory burdens.”

Having been part of a small group of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in opposition, his departure was seen by many as a setback to Starmer, while his critique of Whitehall priorities resonates in certain quarters.