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Efforts to secure the release of the British-Egyptian activist frequently diverted the Starmer administration from focusing on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, as stated by one of the PM's inner circle of former advisers.

A 'Running Joke' Within Government

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the prime minister’s director of strategy, said the case of the imprisoned activist became a “running joke” among those in government exasperated with the slow pace of change.

“We would be having extended discussions on the priorities of the government, and often they would be derailed via any other business into discussions of this gentleman,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He continued, “The majority on the political side of government were largely unaware of it – not closely following it – because it didn't affect us daily. It actually became a sort of a standing joke within government that people would invariably find a way to return to this topic.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden argued the significant focus spent on freeing Abd el-Fattah was symptomatic of a government that has struggled to remain concentrated on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “influential” campaign organisations and arms-length bodies.

Ovenden’s comments came in his first public intervention since he resigned in September, after it was revealed he sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

But, Ovenden’s political analysis is shared by many in Number 10, including the prime minister, who lamented last month about excessive red tape 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 prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as further examples.

“At a time when the public is getting increasingly impatient, more and more fed up 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 diversions,” he said.

Calls for Policy Overhaul

In a separate piece, he urges the government to roll back environmental regulations, reduce benefits expenditure and even scrap the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“We don’t have 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 writes. “We don’t have to strangle entrepreneurs at birth with regulatory burdens.”

Having been part 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.