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Efforts to free of the British-Egyptian activist regularly distracted Keir Starmer’s government from focusing on core home affairs, as stated by one 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 “running joke” among those in government exasperated with the lack of progress of change.

“We would be having 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 continued, “The majority on the political side 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 standing joke within government that people would always find a way to return to this conversation.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

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

These remarks came in his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, following revelations he had sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

However, Ovenden’s political analysis is shared by many in Number 10, even the prime minister, who lamented 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 pointed to controversies over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in outdoor hospitality areas as other instances.

“When the public is getting increasingly impatient, more and more fed up with a lack of progress, 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 urges the government to scale back environmental regulations, cut welfare spending and even scrap the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“It is not necessary to keep taking money of the productive parts of our economy in order to pay for inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unsustainable welfare system,” he writes. “There is no need to stifle small businesses from the outset with regulatory burdens.”

Having been part of a small group of advisers around the prime minister since his days in opposition, his departure was widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, even as his critique of Whitehall priorities resonates in certain quarters.