🔗 Share this article

Attempts to free of the British-Egyptian activist frequently diverted Keir Starmer’s government from concentrating on core domestic political issues, according to a former member of the prime minister’s closest ex-aides.

A 'Running Joke' Within Government

Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the PM's chief of strategy, said the case of the British political prisoner evolved into 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 conversations of this individual,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “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 sort of a standing joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this conversation.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden said the amount of time spent on freeing Abd el-Fattah was indicative 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 arms-length bodies.

These remarks came in his first public intervention since he resigned in September, after it was revealed he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

However, Ovenden’s assessment is shared by many in Number 10, including the prime minister, who lamented last month about excessive red tape delaying government action.

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

“At a time when the public is getting increasingly impatient, ever more disillusioned with inaction, increasingly tired with distraction, 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 further article, he urges the government to roll back green rules, reduce benefits expenditure and even end the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“It is not necessary to keep taking money of the productive parts of our economy in order to fund above-inflation pension rises for millionaires or an unsustainable welfare system,” he argues. “We don’t have to strangle entrepreneurs at birth with regulatory burdens.”

As one of a handful of advisers close to the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his exit was seen by many as a blow to Starmer, even as his analysis of Whitehall priorities resonates in certain quarters.