🔗 Share this article

Attempts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah frequently diverted the Starmer administration from concentrating on bread-and-butter home affairs, according to a former member of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

Paul Ovenden, who stood down last year as the prime minister’s director of strategy, said the case of the British political prisoner evolved into a “running joke” among those in government exasperated with the lack of progress of change.

“We'd hold long meetings on the key goals of the government, and frequently they would be derailed via AOB into discussions of this individual,” he stated on 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 affect us on a day-to-day basis. It actually became a sort of a standing joke within government that people would invariably find a way to bring it back to this topic.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden argued the significant focus spent on the activist's case was symptomatic of a government that has struggled to stay focused 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 initial public statement since he stepped down in September, after it was revealed he had sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

However, Ovenden’s assessment is echoed by many in Number 10, even 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 became distracted from its main objectives. He cited rows over compensation for historical injustices and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as other instances.

“When the public is getting more and more frustrated, ever more disillusioned with a lack of progress, increasingly tired with side issues, 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 further article, he urges the government to scale back environmental regulations, reduce benefits expenditure and even scrap the triple-lock on pensions.

“We don’t have to keep taking money of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to pay for above-inflation pension rises for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “There is no need to stifle small businesses from the outset with regulatory burdens.”

Having been part 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, while his analysis of Whitehall priorities finds sympathy in certain quarters.