🔗 Share this article

Attempts to free of the British-Egyptian activist regularly distracted the Starmer administration from focusing 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 stood down last year as the PM's chief of strategy, claimed the case of the British political prisoner evolved into a “running joke” among those in Whitehall frustrated by the slow pace of change.

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

He added, “Most of us on the political team of government were largely unaware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn't affect us on a day-to-day basis. It actually became a bit of a kind of a standing joke within government that people would invariably find a way to return to this conversation.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden said the amount of time spent on freeing Abd el-Fattah was symptomatic of a government that has found it difficult to remain concentrated on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “well-connected” activist groups and quasi-independent agencies.

These remarks were made during his initial public statement since he stepped down in September, following revelations he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

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

Ovenden stated Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government became distracted from its main objectives. He pointed to rows over compensation for historical injustices and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as further examples.

“At a time when the public is getting more and more frustrated, ever more disillusioned with a lack of progress, more and more fed up 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 further article, he urges the government to roll back green rules, cut welfare spending and even end the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“It is not necessary to keep taking money of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to fund inflation-busting pension increases for the wealthy or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “We don’t have to strangle entrepreneurs at birth with excessive regulation.”

As one of a handful of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in opposition, his departure was widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, while his critique of governmental focus finds sympathy in certain quarters.