Diversions Regarding Alaa Abd el-Fattah Were a Running Joke, States Ex-Starmer Adviser

Efforts to secure the release of the British-Egyptian activist regularly distracted the Starmer administration from focusing on core home affairs, according to 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, said the case of the imprisoned activist became a “running joke” among those in government frustrated by the slow pace of change.

“We'd hold 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 told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added, “The majority on the political side of government were largely unaware of it – weren’t that tuned into it – because it didn't affect us daily. It actually became a sort of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this topic.”

A Sign of Wider Struggles

Ovenden said the amount of time spent on freeing Abd el-Fattah was indicative of a government that has struggled to remain concentrated on the public's main concerns in the face of pressure from “influential” activist groups and arms-length bodies.

These remarks came in his first public intervention since he stepped down 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 shared by many in Downing Street, including the prime minister, who complained last month about bureaucratic hurdles slowing government action.

Ovenden stated Abd el-Fattah’s case was one of several areas where the government became distracted from its main objectives. He pointed to controversies over compensation for historical injustices and prohibiting cigarettes in outdoor hospitality areas as other instances.

“At a time when the public is getting increasingly impatient, ever more disillusioned with inaction, increasingly tired with distraction, 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 further article, he calls on 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 inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unsustainable welfare system,” he argues. “We don’t have to stifle entrepreneurs at birth with regulatory burdens.”

Having been part of a small group of advisers around 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 resonates in certain quarters.