🔗 Share this article

Efforts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted Keir Starmer’s government from concentrating on core domestic political issues, as stated by 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, said the case of the British political prisoner evolved into a “recurring punchline” among those in government 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 individual,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He continued, “The majority on the political side 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 running joke within government that people would always find a way to return to this conversation.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden said 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 “influential” campaign organisations and quasi-independent agencies.

Ovenden’s comments were made during his initial public statement since he resigned in September, after it was revealed he sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

However, Ovenden’s political analysis is echoed by many in Number 10, including the prime minister, who lamented last month about excessive red tape delaying government action.

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

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

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

As one of a small group of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his departure was widely regarded as a setback to Starmer, while his critique of Whitehall priorities resonates in certain quarters.