"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. Most of us on the political side of government weren't that aware of it — weren't that tuned into it — because it didn't impact us on a day-to-day basis. It actually became a bit of a kind of a running joke within government that people would always find a way to bring it back to this conversation."
"Ovenden said the amount of time dedicated to freeing Abd el-Fattah was symptomatic of a government that has struggled to stay focused on voters' core priorities in the face of pressure from well-connected activist groups and arms-length bodies. Ovenden's comments came in his first public intervention since he resigned in September, after it was revealed he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago."
Paul Ovenden said efforts to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah repeatedly pulled ministers and advisers away from domestic policy priorities. Abd el-Fattah's case dominated headlines after his Boxing Day return to Britain and then a controversy over decade-old social media posts advocating killing Zionists. Ovenden said the time spent on the case reflected a government struggling to focus on voters' core concerns while facing pressure from well-connected activist groups and arm's-length bodies. Meetings on government priorities were frequently diverted into discussions about Abd el-Fattah, and the issue became a recurring, joking preoccupation within government. Ovenden resigned after revelations about inappropriate messages about Diane Abbott.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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