🔗 Share this article

Efforts to free of the British-Egyptian activist frequently diverted Keir Starmer’s government from focusing on core home affairs, as stated by one of the PM's inner circle of former advisers.

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 “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 frequently they would be railroaded via AOB into conversations of this gentleman,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He continued, “The majority on the political side of government were largely unaware of it – not closely following it – because it didn't affect us on a day-to-day basis. It actually became 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 argued the amount of time dedicated to the activist's case was indicative of a government that has struggled 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 initial public statement since he resigned in September, following revelations he sent offensive texts about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.

Echoes of PM's Own Concerns

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

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

“At a time when the public is getting increasingly impatient, more and more fed up with inaction, increasingly tired with side issues, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be spending their time on what I consider distractions,” he said.

Advocating for a Radical Shift

In a separate piece, he urges the government to roll back environmental regulations, cut benefits expenditure and even scrap the guaranteed pension increase mechanism.

“It is not necessary to keep picking the pockets of the wealth-generating sectors of our economy in order to pay for above-inflation pension rises for millionaires or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he writes. “We don’t have to stifle small businesses at birth with excessive regulation.”

As one 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, even as his critique of governmental focus finds sympathy in certain quarters.