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Efforts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted the Starmer administration from concentrating on bread-and-butter home affairs, as stated by a former member of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.

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 British political prisoner evolved into a “recurring punchline” among those in government frustrated by the lack of progress of change.

“We'd hold extended discussions on the key goals 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 continued, “The majority on the political team of government weren’t that aware of it – not closely following it – because it didn’t impact us on a day-to-day basis. It truly turned into a bit of a kind of a running 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 the activist's case was symptomatic of a government that has struggled 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 came in his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, after it was revealed he had sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

However, Ovenden’s political analysis is echoed by many in Number 10, 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 rows over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in outdoor hospitality areas as other instances.

“At a time when the public is getting increasingly impatient, more and more fed up with inaction, more and more fed up with side issues, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford 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 scale back environmental regulations, cut benefits expenditure and even scrap the triple-lock on pensions.

“We don’t have to keep taking money of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to fund inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he writes. “There is no need to stifle small businesses at birth with excessive regulation.”

As one of a small group of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in opposition, his exit was widely regarded as a setback to Starmer, while his critique of Whitehall priorities finds sympathy in certain quarters.