🔗 Share this article

Attempts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted the Starmer administration from concentrating on bread-and-butter home affairs, as stated by one of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.

A 'Running Joke' Within Government

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'd hold long meetings on the key goals of the government, and frequently they would be railroaded via any other business into conversations of this gentleman,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “The majority on the political team of government were largely unaware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn’t impact us daily. It actually became a bit of a kind of a standing joke within government that people would invariably find a way to bring it back to this conversation.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden said the significant focus dedicated to freeing Abd el-Fattah was symptomatic of a government that has struggled to remain concentrated on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “influential” campaign organisations and arms-length bodies.

These remarks were made during his first public intervention since he resigned in September, following revelations he had 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 complained last month about bureaucratic hurdles delaying government action.

Ovenden stated Abd el-Fattah’s case was among a number of areas where the government was sidetracked from its main objectives. He pointed to controversies over reparations to former colonies and banning smoking in pub gardens as further examples.

“When the public is getting more and more frustrated, more and more fed up with inaction, increasingly tired with distraction, 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 roll 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 above-inflation pension rises for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “We don’t have to stifle small businesses at birth with excessive regulation.”

Having been part of a small group of advisers around the prime minister since his days in opposition, his exit was widely regarded as a setback to Starmer, even as his analysis of Whitehall priorities finds sympathy in certain quarters.