Distractions Over Alaa Abd el-Fattah Were a Running Joke, Says Ex-Starmer Aide
Efforts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted Keir Starmer’s government from focusing on core home affairs, as stated by one of the PM's inner circle of 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 “recurring punchline” among those in Whitehall exasperated with the slow pace of change.
“We'd hold long meetings on the priorities of the government, and often they would be derailed via any other business into conversations of this individual,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He added, “The majority on the political side of government weren’t that aware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn't affect us on a day-to-day basis. It truly turned into a bit of a kind of a standing joke within government that people would invariably find a way to bring it back to this conversation.”
A Sign of Wider Struggles
Ovenden said the significant focus spent on 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 first public intervention since he stepped down in September, after it was revealed he sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.
Shared Frustrations in Downing Street
But, Ovenden’s political analysis is echoed by many in Downing Street, even the prime minister, who complained last month about bureaucratic hurdles delaying government action.
Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government was sidetracked from its primary goals. He cited controversies over reparations to former colonies and banning smoking in outdoor hospitality areas as further examples.
“At a time when the public is getting more and more frustrated, more and more fed up 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 distractions,” he said.
Advocating for a Radical Shift
In a separate piece, he calls on the government to roll back environmental regulations, reduce 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 pay for above-inflation pension rises for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “We don’t have to strangle entrepreneurs at birth with excessive regulation.”
Having been part of a small group of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in opposition, his exit was seen by many as a setback to Starmer, while his analysis of Whitehall priorities resonates in certain quarters.
