🔗 Share this article

Efforts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted the Starmer administration from focusing on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, according to one of the prime minister’s closest ex-aides.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

Paul Ovenden, who stood down last year as the prime minister’s director of strategy, claimed the case of the imprisoned activist evolved into a “running joke” among those in Whitehall exasperated with the lack of progress of change.

“We would be having long meetings on the key goals of the government, and often they would be railroaded via any other business into conversations of this individual,” he stated on 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 impact us on a day-to-day basis. It truly turned into a sort of a standing joke within government that people would always find a way to return to this topic.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden argued the amount of time dedicated to 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 “well-connected” campaign organisations and quasi-independent agencies.

These remarks were made during his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, following revelations he had sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

But, Ovenden’s political analysis is shared by many in Downing Street, including 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 was sidetracked from its main objectives. He pointed to rows over reparations to former colonies and banning smoking in pub gardens as further examples.

“At a time when the public is getting more and more frustrated, ever more disillusioned with inaction, increasingly tired with side issues, in my opinion, we cannot justify to be spending their 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, cut 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 fund inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “There is no need to strangle small businesses at birth with regulatory burdens.”

As one of a small group of advisers around the prime minister since his days in opposition, his departure was seen by many as a setback to Starmer, even as his critique of Whitehall priorities finds sympathy in certain quarters.