Downing Street has only itself to blame for lack of grip on Whitehall, say experts

"Paul Ovenden prompted a debate about how Keir Starmer's administration is governing after criticising what he described as the sheer weirdness of how Whitehall spends its time. In particular, the former Downing Street strategist highlighted the effort spent on freeing the British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who has previously posted on X about killing Zionists, saying colleagues had joked about the campaign as a totem of the ceaseless sapping of time and energy by people obsessed with fringe issues."

"Ovenden hit out at what he called the supremacy of the stakeholder state, arguing the government had been hobbled by a complex coalition of campaign groups, regulators, litigators, trade bodies and well-networked organisations, although he stressed that many civil servants themselves wanted to change the system. He claimed the stakeholder state was incubated by a political perma-class that exists within every party and every department one whose entire focus is on preserving their status within a system that gives them meaning. Ovenden said the solution was a government with a stiffened spine and renewed purpose that could dismantle much of the system quickly and find its nerve again."

"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."

Lobbying by a political perma-class and a dominant stakeholder state has diverted government time and energy toward fringe campaigns and stakeholder priorities. Whitehall invested effort in freeing activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, drawing ridicule as an example of wasted focus on marginal issues. The stakeholder state is described as a coalition of campaign groups, regulators, litigators, trade bodies and well-networked organisations that slow decision-making and delivery. Many civil servants reportedly want system change, while some government figures assert ministers retain the authority to act. The proposed remedy is a firmer, purpose-driven government able to dismantle obstructive parts of the system.

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