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Efforts to secure the release of the British-Egyptian activist frequently diverted Keir Starmer’s government from concentrating on core home affairs, according to 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 imprisoned activist became a “recurring punchline” among those in Whitehall frustrated by the slow pace of change.

“We would be having long meetings on the priorities of the government, and often they would be railroaded via AOB into discussions of this individual,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “The majority on the political side of government were largely unaware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn't affect us on a day-to-day basis. It truly turned into a sort of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to return to this topic.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden argued the amount of time spent on the activist's case was indicative of a government that has struggled to remain concentrated on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “well-connected” campaign organisations and arms-length bodies.

These remarks came in his initial public statement since he resigned in September, after it was revealed he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

However, Ovenden’s assessment is echoed by many in Number 10, including the prime minister, who complained last month about bureaucratic hurdles delaying government action.

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government became distracted from its primary goals. He pointed to controversies over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as other instances.

“At a time when the public is getting more and more frustrated, more and more fed up with a lack of progress, increasingly tired with distraction, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be spending their time on what I consider distractions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a separate piece, he calls on the government to scale back green rules, reduce welfare spending and even end the triple-lock on pensions.

“It is not necessary to keep taking money of the productive parts of our economy in order to pay for above-inflation pension rises for millionaires or an unsustainable welfare system,” he argues. “We don’t have to stifle entrepreneurs from the outset with excessive regulation.”

As one of a small group of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his exit was seen by many as a blow to Starmer, even as his analysis of governmental focus resonates in certain quarters.