🔗 Share this article

Efforts to secure the release of the British-Egyptian activist frequently diverted the Starmer administration from concentrating on core home affairs, as stated by a former member of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.

Frustration Became a Source of Humour

Paul Ovenden, who stood down last year as the PM's chief of strategy, claimed the case of the imprisoned activist became a “running joke” among those in government exasperated with the lack of progress of change.

“We'd hold extended discussions on the key goals of the government, and often they would be derailed via any other business into discussions 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 – not closely following it – because it didn’t impact us on a day-to-day basis. It actually became a sort of a standing joke within government that people would always find a way to return to this topic.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden said the significant focus spent on the activist's case was indicative of a government that has found it difficult to stay focused on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “well-connected” activist groups and arms-length bodies.

These remarks were made during his initial public statement since he resigned in September, following revelations he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Shared Frustrations in Downing Street

But, Ovenden’s political analysis is echoed by many in Number 10, including the prime minister, who lamented last month about bureaucratic hurdles slowing government action.

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government was sidetracked from its primary goals. He pointed to controversies over reparations to former colonies and prohibiting cigarettes in pub gardens 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 side issues, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be spending their time on what I consider diversions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a further article, he calls on the government to roll back green rules, cut benefits expenditure and even scrap the triple-lock on pensions.

“It is not necessary to keep picking the pockets of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to fund inflation-busting pension increases for the wealthy or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he argues. “There is no need to stifle entrepreneurs at birth with excessive regulation.”

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