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Attempts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted the Starmer administration from concentrating on bread-and-butter home affairs, as stated by one 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, claimed the case of the British political prisoner evolved into a “recurring punchline” among those in government frustrated by the lack of progress of change.

“We'd hold long meetings on the key goals of the government, and frequently they would be derailed via any other business into conversations of this individual,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “Most of us on the political team 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 running joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this conversation.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden said the amount of time dedicated to the activist's case 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 quasi-independent agencies.

These remarks were made during his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, after it was revealed he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

But, Ovenden’s assessment is echoed by many in Number 10, even the prime minister, who lamented last month about excessive red tape delaying government action.

Ovenden stated Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government became distracted from its main objectives. He cited rows over reparations to former colonies and banning smoking in pub gardens as further examples.

“When the public is getting more and more frustrated, ever more disillusioned with inaction, more and more fed up with distraction, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be using valuable time on what I consider distractions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a separate piece, he urges the government to scale back environmental regulations, cut benefits expenditure and even scrap the triple-lock on pensions.

“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. “There is no need to strangle entrepreneurs from the outset with regulatory burdens.”

As one of a handful of advisers around the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his departure was widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, while his analysis of governmental focus resonates in certain quarters.