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Efforts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah frequently diverted the Starmer administration from focusing on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, according to a former member of the PM's inner circle of ex-aides.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the prime minister’s director of strategy, claimed the case of the British political prisoner became a “recurring punchline” among those in Whitehall exasperated with the slow pace of change.

“We would be having long meetings on the key goals of the government, and frequently 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 team of government were largely unaware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn’t impact us daily. It actually became 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.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden said the amount of time dedicated to the activist's case was symptomatic of a government that has struggled to remain concentrated on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “influential” activist groups and quasi-independent agencies.

Ovenden’s comments were made during his initial public statement since he stepped down in September, following revelations he had sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

However, Ovenden’s assessment is shared by many in Downing Street, including the prime minister, who lamented last month about bureaucratic hurdles delaying 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 rows over compensation for historical injustices and prohibiting cigarettes in outdoor hospitality areas as further examples.

“When the public is getting more and more frustrated, more and more fed up with inaction, increasingly tired with distraction, 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 green rules, reduce welfare spending and even end the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“We don’t have to keep taking money of the productive parts of our economy in order to fund inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “We don’t have to strangle small businesses from the outset with regulatory burdens.”

As one of a small group of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in opposition, his departure was seen by many as a setback to Starmer, even as his critique of Whitehall priorities resonates in certain quarters.