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Efforts to free of the British-Egyptian activist frequently diverted the Starmer administration from focusing on core domestic political issues, according to one of the PM's inner circle of former advisers.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the PM's chief of strategy, said 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 priorities of the government, and often they would be railroaded via any other business into conversations of this individual,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He continued, “Most of us on the political side 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 actually became a sort of a running 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 significant focus dedicated to 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 resigned in September, after it was revealed he sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

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 stated Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government became distracted from its main objectives. He cited rows over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as further examples.

“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 simply can’t afford to be spending their time on what I consider distractions,” he said.

Calls for Policy Overhaul

In a further article, he calls on the government to scale back green rules, cut welfare spending and even scrap the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“It is not necessary to keep picking the pockets of the productive parts of our economy in order to fund inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unsustainable welfare system,” he writes. “We don’t have to strangle entrepreneurs from the outset with regulatory burdens.”

As one of a small group of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his exit was widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, even as his critique of Whitehall priorities resonates in certain quarters.