Keir Starmer's government was regularly sidetracked from focusing on key domestic issues by the high-profile campaign to free British political prisoner Alaa Abd el-Fattah, according to one of the Prime Minister's closest former advisers.
'A running joke' in Downing Street
Paul Ovenden, who served as the Prime Minister's director of strategy until his resignation last September, has revealed that the case became a "running joke" among frustrated ministers and officials. Ovenden said the government struggled to maintain focus on voters' core concerns due to pressure from well-connected activist groups and various regulatory bodies.
"We would be having long meetings on the priorities of the government, and often they would be railroaded via any other business into discussions of this gentleman," Ovenden told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He added that most political figures in government were not deeply engaged with the case as it did not impact their daily work, leading to the sardonic humour surrounding its persistent appearance on agendas.
Freedom followed by fresh controversy
Alaa Abd el-Fattah, an activist with British citizenship, was released from an Egyptian prison and returned to the UK on Boxing Day. However, his release was swiftly followed by controversy when decade-old social media posts resurfaced in which he had advocated violence against Zionists.
Ovenden's comments mark his first public intervention since he stepped down from his role. His departure came after it emerged he had sent inappropriate messages about Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years prior. As one of Starmer's key strategists since the opposition days, his exit was seen as a significant blow to the Prime Minister's inner circle.
Symptom of a broader distraction problem
Ovenden argued that the Abd el-Fattah case exemplified a wider governmental tendency to become diverted from its main objectives. He cited other examples, including debates over reparations to former colonies and proposals to ban smoking in pub gardens.
"At a time when the public is getting more and more frustrated, more and more fed up with inaction, more and more fed up with distraction, in my opinion, we simply can’t afford to be spending their time on what I consider distractions," Ovenden stated.
His analysis appears to reflect a sentiment shared in Number 10. Prime Minister Starmer himself recently complained about the bureaucratic hurdles slowing down delivery, stating: "Every time I go to pull a lever there are a whole bunch of regulations, consultations, [and] arm’s-length bodies that mean that the action from pulling the lever to delivery is longer than I think it ought to be."
In a separate article for The Times, Ovenden has called for a radical shift in policy focus. He urges the government to roll back environmental regulations, cut welfare spending, and reconsider the triple-lock on pensions—a mechanism guaranteeing state pension rises of at least 2% annually, often viewed as politically untouchable.
"We don’t have to keep picking the pockets of the productive parts of our economy in order to fund inflation-busting pension increases for millionaires or an unsustainable welfare system," he wrote. "We don’t have to strangle small businesses at birth with regulatory burdens."
The revelations from a former senior insider highlight the ongoing tension within the Starmer administration between managing international diplomatic crises, like the detention of a British citizen abroad, and delivering on the domestic agenda that secured its electoral victory.
