🔗 Share this article

Efforts to secure the release of the British-Egyptian activist regularly distracted the Starmer administration from focusing on core domestic political issues, as stated by a former member of the PM's inner circle of ex-aides.

A 'Running Joke' Within Government

Paul Ovenden, who stood down last year as the prime minister’s director of strategy, said the case of the imprisoned activist became a “running joke” among those in government exasperated with the slow pace of change.

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

He continued, “The majority on the political side of government were largely unaware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn’t impact us daily. 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 conversation.”

Symptomatic of a Broader Issue

Ovenden said the significant focus spent on the activist's case was indicative of a government that has struggled to remain concentrated on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “well-connected” campaign organisations and arms-length bodies.

These remarks came in his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, following revelations he had sent offensive texts 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 excessive red tape delaying government action.

Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government was sidetracked from its primary goals. He cited controversies over compensation for historical injustices and banning smoking in pub gardens as further examples.

“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 cannot justify 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 environmental regulations, reduce benefits expenditure 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 pay for above-inflation pension rises for millionaires or an unsustainable welfare system,” he writes. “We don’t have 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 the opposition benches, his exit was widely regarded as a blow to Starmer, while his critique of Whitehall priorities finds sympathy in certain quarters.