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Efforts to secure the release of the British-Egyptian activist frequently diverted the Starmer administration from concentrating on core home affairs, as stated by a former member 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, claimed the case of the British political prisoner evolved into a “recurring punchline” among those in Whitehall exasperated with the slow pace of change.

“We would be having extended discussions on the priorities of the government, and frequently they would be derailed via AOB into conversations of this gentleman,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “Most of us on the political side of government were largely unaware of it – not closely following it – because it didn't affect us on a day-to-day basis. It actually became a sort of a standing joke within government that people would invariably find a way to bring it back to this topic.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden said the amount of time spent on the activist's case was indicative of a government that has found it difficult to stay focused on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “influential” activist groups and arms-length bodies.

These remarks were made during his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, after it was revealed he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

However, Ovenden’s assessment is shared by many in Number 10, even the prime minister, who lamented last month about bureaucratic hurdles delaying government action.

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was among a number of areas where the government became distracted from its primary goals. He cited rows over compensation for historical injustices and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as other instances.

“When the public is getting increasingly impatient, more and more fed up with inaction, increasingly tired with side issues, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be spending their time on what I consider diversions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

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

“It is not necessary to keep taking money of the productive parts of our economy in order to pay for inflation-busting pension increases for the wealthy or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “We don’t have to strangle entrepreneurs from the outset with excessive regulation.”

As one of a small group of advisers around the prime minister since his days in opposition, his departure was widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, while his analysis of Whitehall priorities finds sympathy in certain quarters.