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Attempts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted Keir Starmer’s government from concentrating on core domestic political issues, 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 prime minister’s director of strategy, claimed the case of the British political prisoner became a “recurring punchline” among those in government frustrated by the lack of progress 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, “The majority on the political team of government weren’t that aware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn’t impact us on a day-to-day basis. It truly turned into a bit of a kind of a standing joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this topic.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden argued the significant focus dedicated to freeing Abd el-Fattah was symptomatic of a government that has struggled to remain concentrated on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “influential” campaign organisations and arms-length bodies.

Ovenden’s comments came in his initial public statement since he stepped down in September, after it was revealed he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

But, Ovenden’s political analysis is shared by many in Downing Street, including 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 became distracted from its primary goals. He cited controversies over reparations to former colonies and banning smoking in pub gardens as further examples.

“When the public is getting more and more frustrated, ever more disillusioned with a lack of progress, more and more fed up with side issues, in my opinion, we cannot justify to be spending their time on what I consider distractions,” 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 scrap 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 inflation-busting pension increases for the wealthy or an unsustainable welfare system,” he writes. “There is no need to strangle small businesses at birth with regulatory burdens.”

As one of a handful of advisers around the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his exit was widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, while his analysis of governmental focus finds sympathy in certain quarters.