Diversions Over Alaa Abd el-Fattah Became a Running Joke, States Ex-Starmer Adviser
Attempts to free of Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted Keir Starmer’s government from focusing on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, according to one of the prime minister’s closest former advisers.
Frustration Became a Source of Humour
Paul Ovenden, who stepped down last year as the PM's chief of strategy, claimed the case of the imprisoned activist became a “recurring punchline” among those in government frustrated by the lack of progress of change.
“We would be having extended discussions on the key goals of the government, and often they would be railroaded via any other business into discussions of this individual,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He added, “Most of us 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 bit of a kind of a running joke within government that people would invariably find a way to bring it back to this conversation.”
A Sign of Wider Struggles
Ovenden said the amount of time dedicated to the activist's case was indicative of a government that has found it difficult to remain concentrated on voters’ core priorities in the face of pressure from “influential” campaign organisations and arms-length bodies.
These remarks came in his initial public statement since he resigned in September, after it was revealed he had sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott previously.
Echoes of PM's Own Concerns
But, Ovenden’s political analysis is shared by many in Downing Street, even the prime minister, who lamented last month about bureaucratic hurdles 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 compensation for historical injustices and prohibiting cigarettes in outdoor hospitality areas as further examples.
“When the public is getting increasingly impatient, more and more fed up with a lack of progress, more and more fed up with side issues, in my opinion, we cannot justify to be using valuable time on what I consider distractions,” he said.
Calls for Policy Overhaul
In a separate piece, he urges the government to scale back environmental regulations, reduce welfare spending 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 the wealthy or an unaffordable benefits framework,” he writes. “There is no need to stifle entrepreneurs from the outset with regulatory burdens.”
As one of a small group of advisers around the prime minister since his days in the opposition benches, his exit was seen by many as a blow to Starmer, while his critique of governmental focus finds sympathy in certain quarters.
