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Efforts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted Keir Starmer’s government from concentrating on bread-and-butter home affairs, according to 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 PM's chief of strategy, claimed the case of the imprisoned activist evolved into a “running joke” among those in Whitehall 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 AOB into conversations of this gentleman,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “The majority on the political team of government weren’t that aware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn’t impact us on a day-to-day basis. It truly turned into a bit of a kind of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to return 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 stay focused on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “well-connected” activist groups and quasi-independent agencies.

Ovenden’s comments came in his initial public statement since he stepped down in September, following revelations he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

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 pointed to 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 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 diversions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a separate piece, he calls on the government to scale back environmental regulations, reduce welfare spending and even scrap the triple-lock on pensions.

“It is not necessary to keep picking the pockets 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 argues. “There is no need to strangle entrepreneurs from the outset with excessive regulation.”

As one of a small group of advisers close to 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.