🔗 Share this article

Efforts to free of the British-Egyptian activist regularly distracted the Starmer administration from focusing on core home affairs, according to one of the prime minister’s closest ex-aides.

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 imprisoned activist evolved into a “recurring punchline” among those in government exasperated with the lack of progress of change.

“We would be having extended discussions on the priorities of the government, and often they would be railroaded 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 weren’t that aware of it – not closely following it – because it didn't affect us daily. It truly turned into a sort of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this topic.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden argued the significant focus 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” campaign organisations and quasi-independent agencies.

Ovenden’s comments were made during his first public intervention since he resigned in September, after it was revealed he sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

However, Ovenden’s assessment is echoed by many in Number 10, even 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 became distracted from its primary goals. He pointed to controversies over compensation for historical injustices and banning smoking in outdoor hospitality areas as further examples.

“At a time when the public is getting increasingly impatient, more and more fed up with a lack of progress, increasingly tired with distraction, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be using valuable time on what I consider diversions,” he said.

Calls for Policy Overhaul

In a separate piece, he calls on the government to roll back green rules, 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 inflation-busting pension increases for the wealthy or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “There is no need to stifle small businesses at birth with excessive regulation.”

As one of a small group of advisers around the prime minister since his days in opposition, his exit was widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, while his analysis of Whitehall priorities resonates in certain quarters.