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Efforts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah frequently diverted the Starmer administration from concentrating on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, as stated by a former member of the PM's inner circle of former advisers.

A 'Running Joke' Within Government

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the PM's chief of strategy, said the case of the imprisoned activist became a “running joke” 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 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 – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn't affect us on a day-to-day basis. It actually became a bit of a kind of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to return to this topic.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden argued the significant focus 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 “influential” activist groups and quasi-independent agencies.

These remarks came in his initial public statement since he stepped down in September, after it was revealed he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

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

Ovenden stated Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government became distracted from its main objectives. He pointed to controversies over compensation for historical injustices and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as other instances.

“When the public is getting more and more frustrated, ever more disillusioned with a lack of progress, more and more fed up with distraction, 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, reduce welfare spending and even scrap the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“It is not necessary to keep picking the pockets of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to pay for above-inflation pension rises for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he writes. “There is no need 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 seen by many as a setback to Starmer, even as his critique of Whitehall priorities resonates in certain quarters.