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Attempts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah frequently diverted the Starmer administration from focusing on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, as stated by a former member 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 British political prisoner became a “running joke” among those in Whitehall frustrated by the slow pace of change.

“We'd hold long meetings on the priorities of the government, and frequently they would be derailed via any other business into conversations of this gentleman,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “Most of us on the political team of government weren’t that aware of it – not closely following it – because it didn't affect us daily. It actually became a bit of a kind of a running joke within government that people would invariably find a way to bring it back to this topic.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden argued the amount of time dedicated to the activist's case was symptomatic of a government that has struggled to remain concentrated on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “well-connected” campaign organisations and quasi-independent agencies.

These remarks were made during his first public intervention since he resigned in September, after it was revealed he had sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

However, 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 stated 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 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 cannot justify to be spending their time on what I consider distractions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a further article, he calls on the government to roll back green rules, reduce welfare spending and even end the triple-lock on pensions.

“We don’t have to keep taking money of the productive parts of our economy in order to pay for inflation-busting pension increases for the wealthy 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, while his analysis of Whitehall priorities finds sympathy in certain quarters.