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Efforts to secure the release of the British-Egyptian activist regularly distracted the Starmer administration from focusing on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, as stated by a former member of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

Paul Ovenden, who stood down last year as the prime minister’s director of strategy, claimed the case of the British political prisoner became a “recurring punchline” among those in Whitehall exasperated with the slow pace of change.

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

He added, “The majority on the political side of government weren’t that aware of it – not closely following it – because it didn’t impact us on a day-to-day basis. It truly turned into 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 the activist's case was symptomatic of a government that has struggled to remain concentrated on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “influential” campaign organisations and quasi-independent agencies.

These remarks came in his first public intervention since he resigned in September, following revelations he sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

But, Ovenden’s political analysis is echoed by many in Number 10, even the prime minister, who lamented last month about bureaucratic hurdles slowing government action.

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government became distracted from its primary goals. He cited controversies over reparations to former colonies and banning smoking in outdoor hospitality areas as other instances.

“At a time when the public is getting more and more frustrated, ever more disillusioned with inaction, increasingly tired 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 roll back green rules, cut welfare spending and even scrap the triple-lock on pensions.

“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 unsustainable welfare system,” he writes. “We don’t have to strangle entrepreneurs at birth with excessive regulation.”

As one of a small group 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 critique of governmental focus finds sympathy in certain quarters.