🔗 Share this article

Efforts to secure the release of the British-Egyptian activist regularly distracted the Starmer administration from focusing on core home affairs, according to a former member of the PM's inner circle of 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 imprisoned activist evolved into a “recurring punchline” among those in Whitehall exasperated with the lack of progress of change.

“We'd hold extended discussions on the priorities of the government, and often they would be derailed via any other business into conversations of this gentleman,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He continued, “Most of us on the political team of government were largely unaware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn't affect us daily. It truly turned into a bit of a kind of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to return to this topic.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden argued the amount of time dedicated to freeing Abd el-Fattah was indicative of a government that has found it difficult to remain concentrated on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “influential” campaign organisations and arms-length bodies.

These remarks came in his initial public statement since he stepped down in September, following revelations he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

But, Ovenden’s political analysis is shared by many in Downing Street, including the prime minister, who complained last month about bureaucratic hurdles delaying government action.

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was among a number of areas where the government was sidetracked from its primary goals. He pointed to controversies over reparations to former colonies and banning smoking in pub gardens as other instances.

“When the public is getting increasingly impatient, 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.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a further article, he urges the government to roll back green rules, cut welfare spending and even scrap the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“We don’t have to keep picking the pockets of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to pay for inflation-busting pension increases for the wealthy or an unsustainable welfare system,” he writes. “There is no need to strangle entrepreneurs at birth with excessive regulation.”

Having been part of a handful of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in opposition, his exit was widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, while his critique of governmental focus finds sympathy in certain quarters.