Diversions Regarding Alaa Abd el-Fattah Became a Running Joke, States Former Starmer Adviser
Efforts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted Keir Starmer’s government from focusing on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, as stated by a former member of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.
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 British political prisoner became a “running joke” among those in Whitehall frustrated by the lack of progress of change.
“We would be having long meetings on the key goals of the government, and often they would be railroaded via any other business 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 impact us daily. It actually became 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 argued the amount of time dedicated to the activist's case 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” campaign organisations and quasi-independent agencies.
Ovenden’s comments were made during his first public intervention since he resigned in September, following revelations he had sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.
Echoes of PM's Own Concerns
But, Ovenden’s assessment is shared by many in Downing Street, including the prime minister, who lamented 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 controversies over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in outdoor hospitality areas as other instances.
“When the public is getting increasingly impatient, more and more fed up with inaction, increasingly tired with side issues, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be using valuable time on what I consider diversions,” he said.
Advocating for a Radical Shift
In a further article, he urges the government to scale back green rules, reduce benefits expenditure and even scrap the triple-lock on pensions.
“It is not necessary to keep picking the pockets of the productive parts of our economy in order to pay for above-inflation pension rises for the wealthy or an unsustainable welfare system,” he writes. “There is no need to stifle small businesses from the outset with regulatory burdens.”
As one of a handful of advisers around the prime minister since his days in opposition, his departure was widely regarded as a setback to Starmer, even as his critique of Whitehall priorities finds sympathy in certain quarters.
