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Efforts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted Keir Starmer’s government from focusing on core home affairs, according to one of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.

A 'Running Joke' Within Government

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the PM's chief of strategy, claimed the case of the imprisoned activist evolved into a “running joke” among those in Whitehall frustrated by the lack of progress of change.

“We'd hold extended discussions on the key goals of the government, and often they would be derailed via AOB into conversations of this individual,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “Most of us on the political team of government weren’t that aware of it – not closely following it – because it didn't affect us daily. It actually became a sort of a running joke within government that people would invariably find a way to bring it back to this topic.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden said the amount of time spent on freeing Abd el-Fattah was symptomatic of a government that has found it difficult to remain concentrated on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “well-connected” activist groups and arms-length bodies.

These remarks came in his initial public statement since he stepped down in September, following revelations he sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

But, Ovenden’s political analysis is echoed by many in Number 10, including 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 pointed to controversies over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes 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 spending their time on what I consider diversions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a separate piece, he calls on the government to scale back environmental regulations, reduce welfare spending and even end the triple-lock on pensions.

“It is not necessary to keep taking money of the productive parts of our economy in order to pay for above-inflation pension rises for the wealthy or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he writes. “There is no need to strangle entrepreneurs 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 widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, even as his critique of governmental focus resonates in certain quarters.