Distractions Over Alaa Abd el-Fattah Were a Recurring Gag, Says Former Starmer Adviser
Efforts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted the Starmer administration from focusing on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, 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 prime minister’s director of strategy, claimed the case of the British political prisoner evolved into a “running joke” among those in government frustrated by 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 stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He continued, “Most of us on the political team of government weren’t that aware of it – not closely following it – because it didn't affect us daily. It actually became a sort of a standing joke within government that people would always find a way to return to this topic.”
A Sign of Wider Struggles
Ovenden argued the significant focus spent on the activist's case was indicative of a government that has struggled to remain concentrated on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “well-connected” campaign organisations and arms-length bodies.
These remarks were made during his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, after it was revealed he had sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.
Echoes of PM's Own Concerns
But, Ovenden’s political analysis is echoed by many in Downing Street, including the prime minister, who lamented last month about bureaucratic hurdles slowing government action.
Ovenden stated Abd el-Fattah’s case was among a number of areas where the government became distracted from its main objectives. He pointed to rows over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in outdoor hospitality areas 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 distraction, in my opinion, we cannot justify to be using valuable time on what I consider diversions,” he said.
Calls for Policy Overhaul
In a further article, he urges the government to roll back environmental regulations, cut welfare spending and even end 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 above-inflation pension rises for the wealthy or an unsustainable welfare system,” 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 exit was seen by many as a setback to Starmer, even as his analysis of Whitehall priorities finds sympathy in certain quarters.
