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Efforts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah frequently diverted the Starmer administration from focusing on bread-and-butter home affairs, as stated by one of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.

A 'Running Joke' Within Government

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the prime minister’s director of strategy, said the case of the British political prisoner became a “recurring punchline” 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 AOB into discussions of this individual,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He continued, “The majority on the political side of government were largely unaware of it – not closely following it – because it didn’t impact us daily. It actually became a sort of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to return to this conversation.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

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

Ovenden’s comments came in his first public intervention since he resigned in September, after it was revealed he had sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

But, Ovenden’s assessment is echoed by many in Downing Street, even the prime minister, who complained last month about bureaucratic hurdles slowing government action.

Ovenden stated Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government was sidetracked from its main objectives. He pointed to rows over compensation for historical injustices and banning smoking in pub gardens as further examples.

“When the public is getting increasingly impatient, 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.

Calls for Policy Overhaul

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

“It is not necessary to keep picking the pockets 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. “We don’t have to stifle entrepreneurs from the outset with excessive regulation.”

As one of a handful of advisers around the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his exit was widely regarded as a setback to Starmer, even as his analysis of governmental focus finds sympathy in certain quarters.