🔗 Share this article

Efforts to secure the release of the British-Egyptian activist frequently diverted Keir Starmer’s government from concentrating on bread-and-butter home affairs, as stated by one of the prime minister’s closest ex-aides.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the prime minister’s director of strategy, said the case of the imprisoned activist became a “recurring punchline” among those in Whitehall exasperated with the lack of progress of change.

“We'd hold long meetings on the priorities of the government, and frequently they would be derailed via AOB into discussions of this gentleman,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “The majority on the political side of government weren’t that aware of it – not closely following it – because it didn’t impact us daily. It truly turned into a bit of a kind of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this conversation.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden said the amount of time 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 “influential” campaign organisations and arms-length bodies.

Ovenden’s comments came in his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, following revelations he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

But, Ovenden’s political analysis is shared by many in Number 10, even the prime minister, who complained last month about excessive red tape slowing government action.

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was among a number of areas where the government was sidetracked from its main objectives. He pointed to rows over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in outdoor hospitality areas as other instances.

“At a time when the public is getting more and more frustrated, more and more fed up with inaction, more and more fed up with distraction, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be spending their time on what I consider distractions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a separate piece, he urges the government to scale back green rules, cut welfare spending and even scrap the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“We don’t have 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. “There is no need to stifle small businesses at birth with regulatory burdens.”

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