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Efforts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted Keir Starmer’s government from focusing on core home affairs, 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, claimed the case of the imprisoned activist evolved into a “running joke” among those in government exasperated with the slow pace of change.

“We would be having long meetings on the key goals of the government, and frequently they would be derailed via any other business into conversations of this individual,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He continued, “Most of us on the political team of government weren’t that aware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn’t impact us daily. It truly turned into a sort of a standing joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this conversation.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden said the amount of time dedicated to freeing Abd el-Fattah was indicative of a government that has found it difficult to remain concentrated on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “influential” campaign organisations and quasi-independent agencies.

Ovenden’s comments were made during his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, following revelations he had sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

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

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was among a number of areas where the government was sidetracked from its primary goals. He pointed to controversies over reparations to former colonies and banning smoking 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 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 urges the government to roll back environmental regulations, reduce benefits expenditure and even end the triple-lock on pensions.

“We don’t have to keep taking money of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to fund inflation-busting pension increases for the wealthy or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “We don’t have to stifle entrepreneurs at birth with excessive regulation.”

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