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Efforts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah frequently diverted Keir Starmer’s government from focusing on core home affairs, as stated by a former member of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.

A 'Running Joke' Within Government

Paul Ovenden, who stood 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 government frustrated by the lack of progress of change.

“We would be having extended discussions on the key goals of the government, and often they would be railroaded 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 were largely unaware 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 sort of a standing joke within government that people would invariably find a way to return to this topic.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden said the amount of time spent on 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 “well-connected” activist groups and arms-length bodies.

These remarks came in his first public intervention since he resigned in September, after it was revealed he sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

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 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 pointed to controversies over compensation for historical injustices and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as further examples.

“When the public is getting increasingly impatient, 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 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 guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“It is not necessary to keep taking money of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to fund 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 around the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his exit was seen by many as a setback to Starmer, while his critique of Whitehall priorities finds sympathy in certain quarters.