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Attempts to secure the release of the British-Egyptian activist frequently diverted Keir Starmer’s government from concentrating on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, as stated by one of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the PM's chief of strategy, said the case of the British political prisoner evolved into a “running joke” among those in government exasperated with the lack of progress of change.

“We'd hold long meetings on the priorities of the government, and frequently they would be railroaded via AOB into discussions of this gentleman,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He continued, “Most of us on the political team of government were largely unaware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn’t impact us on a day-to-day basis. 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 argued the amount of time dedicated to freeing Abd el-Fattah was symptomatic of a government that has found it difficult to remain concentrated on the public's main concerns 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 inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

However, Ovenden’s assessment is shared by many in Downing Street, including the prime minister, who lamented last month about excessive red tape delaying government action.

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was among a number of areas where the government was sidetracked from its main objectives. He cited rows over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as further examples.

“When the public is getting increasingly impatient, ever more disillusioned with a lack of progress, more and more fed up with side issues, in my opinion, we cannot justify to be using valuable time on what I consider distractions,” he said.

Calls for Policy Overhaul

In a further article, he calls on the government to scale back green rules, cut benefits expenditure and even scrap the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“It is not necessary to keep taking money of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to pay for inflation-busting pension increases for the wealthy or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he writes. “There is no need to stifle entrepreneurs at birth with regulatory burdens.”

Having been part of a small group of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in opposition, his exit was seen by many as a setback to Starmer, even as his analysis of governmental focus resonates in certain quarters.