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Attempts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah frequently diverted the Starmer administration from focusing on bread-and-butter home affairs, according to a former member of the PM's inner circle of 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 British political prisoner became a “recurring punchline” among those in government 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 told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “Most of us on the political side of government weren’t that aware 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 bring it back to this topic.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden said the amount of time dedicated to 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 “well-connected” activist groups and arms-length bodies.

These remarks were made during his initial public statement since he stepped down in September, following revelations 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 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 controversies 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 a lack of progress, more and more fed up with side issues, 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 further article, he calls on the government to scale back green rules, reduce benefits expenditure and even end 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 inflation-busting pension increases for the wealthy or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he writes. “We don’t have to strangle small businesses from the outset with regulatory burdens.”

As one of a small group of advisers around the prime minister since his days in opposition, his exit was widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, even as his analysis of governmental focus resonates in certain quarters.