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Attempts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted the Starmer administration from focusing on core home affairs, as stated by a former member of the PM's inner circle of former advisers.

A 'Running Joke' Within Government

Paul Ovenden, who stood down last year as the PM's chief 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 priorities of the government, and often they would be railroaded via AOB into conversations of this gentleman,” he told 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 daily. It actually became a bit of a kind of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to return to this conversation.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden argued the significant focus spent on freeing Abd el-Fattah was indicative of a government that has found it difficult to remain concentrated on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “well-connected” activist groups and quasi-independent agencies.

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

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

However, Ovenden’s assessment is shared by many in Downing Street, even the prime minister, who lamented last month about excessive red tape slowing government action.

Ovenden stated Abd el-Fattah’s case was among a number of areas where the government became distracted from its main objectives. 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 side issues, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be using valuable time on what I consider diversions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a separate piece, he calls on the government to roll back environmental regulations, reduce 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 above-inflation pension rises for millionaires or an unsustainable welfare system,” he writes. “We don’t have to stifle entrepreneurs from the outset with excessive regulation.”

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