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Efforts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted the Starmer administration from concentrating on core domestic political issues, according to one of the prime minister’s closest ex-aides.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the prime minister’s director of strategy, claimed the case of the imprisoned activist became a “running joke” among those in Whitehall exasperated with the slow pace of change.

“We would be having long meetings on the key goals of the government, and frequently they would be railroaded via AOB into conversations of this gentleman,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “The majority on the political side of government weren’t that aware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn't affect us on a day-to-day basis. It actually became a bit of a kind of a standing joke within government that people would always find a way to return to this conversation.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden said the amount of time dedicated to the activist's case was indicative of a government that has struggled to stay focused on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “well-connected” activist groups and quasi-independent agencies.

These remarks came in his initial public statement since he stepped down in September, following revelations he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

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

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was among a number of areas where the government became distracted from its main objectives. He cited controversies over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as further examples.

“At a time when the public is getting more and more frustrated, ever more disillusioned with inaction, more and more fed up with distraction, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be spending their time on what I consider diversions,” he said.

Calls for Policy Overhaul

In a separate piece, he calls on the government to scale back environmental regulations, cut benefits expenditure and even scrap the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“We don’t have to keep picking the pockets of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to pay for inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unsustainable welfare system,” he writes. “We don’t have to strangle entrepreneurs from the outset 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 widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, even as his critique of governmental focus resonates in certain quarters.