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Attempts 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 ex-aides.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

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

“We would be having long meetings on the priorities of the government, and often they would be derailed via AOB into discussions of this individual,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “The majority on the political team 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 actually became a bit of a kind of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this topic.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden argued the significant focus spent on freeing Abd el-Fattah was indicative of a government that has found it difficult to remain concentrated on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “influential” activist groups and quasi-independent agencies.

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

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

But, Ovenden’s political analysis is shared by many in Number 10, including the prime minister, who complained last month about bureaucratic hurdles delaying government action.

Ovenden stated Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government was sidetracked from its main objectives. He cited controversies over compensation for historical injustices and prohibiting cigarettes in outdoor hospitality areas as other instances.

“When the public is getting more and more frustrated, ever more disillusioned with a lack of progress, 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 scale back environmental regulations, reduce welfare spending 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 fund inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “There is no need to stifle entrepreneurs at birth with regulatory burdens.”

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