Efforts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah frequently diverted Keir Starmer’s government from concentrating on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, as stated by one of the PM's inner circle of former advisers.
Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the prime minister’s director of strategy, said the case of the imprisoned activist became a “recurring punchline” among those in government frustrated by the lack of progress of change.
“We would be having long meetings on the priorities 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 added, “Most of us on the political side of government weren’t that aware of it – not closely following it – because it didn’t impact us on a day-to-day basis. It truly turned into a sort of a running joke within government that people would invariably find a way to bring it back to this topic.”
Ovenden argued the amount of time spent on freeing Abd el-Fattah was indicative of a government that has struggled to stay focused on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “influential” campaign organisations and arms-length bodies.
Ovenden’s comments were made during his first public intervention since he resigned in September, following revelations he sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.
However, 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 controversies over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens as further examples.
“When the public is getting more and more frustrated, ever more disillusioned with a lack of progress, more and more fed up with side issues, in my opinion, we cannot justify to be using valuable time on what I consider distractions,” he said.
In a further article, he calls on the government to scale back green rules, cut welfare spending and even end the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.
“We don’t have to keep taking money of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to fund above-inflation pension rises for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he writes. “We don’t have to stifle small businesses from the outset with excessive regulation.”
As one of a handful of advisers around the prime minister since his days in opposition, his departure was seen by many as a blow to Starmer, while his analysis of Whitehall priorities finds sympathy in certain quarters.
