Distractions Over Alaa Abd el-Fattah Were a Running Joke, States Former Starmer Aide
Efforts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah frequently diverted Keir Starmer’s government from focusing on bread-and-butter home affairs, according to one of the PM's inner circle of ex-aides.
A 'Running Joke' Within Government
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 exasperated with the slow pace of change.
“We would be having long meetings on the priorities of the government, and often they would be railroaded via AOB into discussions of this individual,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He added, “The majority on the political side of government weren’t that aware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn't affect us on a day-to-day basis. It truly turned into a sort of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this conversation.”
A Sign of Wider Struggles
Ovenden argued the amount of time dedicated to 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” campaign organisations and quasi-independent agencies.
These remarks came in his first public intervention since he stepped down in September, following revelations he had sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.
Shared Frustrations in Downing Street
However, Ovenden’s assessment is echoed by many in Number 10, including the prime minister, who lamented last month about excessive red tape slowing government action.
Ovenden said Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government was sidetracked from its main objectives. He cited rows over reparations to former colonies and banning smoking in outdoor hospitality areas as further examples.
“When the public is getting more and more frustrated, more and more fed up with inaction, increasingly tired with side issues, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be using valuable time on what I consider diversions,” he said.
Advocating for a Radical Shift
In a separate piece, he calls on the government to scale back environmental regulations, reduce benefits expenditure and even scrap the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.
“We don’t have to keep taking money of the productive parts of our economy in order to pay for inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he writes. “We don’t have to strangle entrepreneurs at birth with excessive regulation.”
As one of a handful of advisers around the prime minister since his days in opposition, his exit was widely regarded as a setback to Starmer, even as his critique of Whitehall priorities resonates in certain quarters.
