🔗 Share this article

Attempts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted Keir Starmer’s government from concentrating on bread-and-butter home affairs, according to one of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the PM's chief of strategy, claimed the case of the imprisoned activist became a “running joke” among those in Whitehall exasperated with the lack of progress of change.

“We would be having long meetings on the priorities of the government, and often they would be derailed via AOB into conversations of this individual,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “The majority on the political team of government weren’t that aware of it – not closely following 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 return 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 found it difficult to stay focused on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “well-connected” campaign organisations and arms-length bodies.

Ovenden’s comments were made during his initial public statement since he resigned in September, after it was revealed he had sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

But, Ovenden’s political analysis is echoed by many in Downing Street, even the prime minister, who lamented last month about excessive red tape delaying government action.

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government became distracted from its main objectives. He pointed to controversies over compensation for historical injustices and banning smoking in outdoor hospitality areas 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 cannot justify to be using valuable time on what I consider distractions,” he said.

Calls for Policy Overhaul

In a separate piece, he urges the government to roll back environmental regulations, reduce welfare spending and even scrap the triple-lock on pensions.

“It is not necessary to keep picking the pockets of the productive parts of our economy in order to pay for above-inflation pension rises for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “We don’t have to stifle small businesses from the outset with regulatory burdens.”

As one of a handful of advisers around the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his departure was seen by many as a setback to Starmer, even as his analysis of governmental focus resonates in certain quarters.