Trump campaign files complaint over ‘foreign interference’ by ‘far-left’ Labour Party in US election
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has accused Sir Keir Starmer’s “far-left” Labour Party of interfering in the US election.
The Trump-Vance campaign filed a complaint with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) accusing Labour of illegal foreign campaign donations.
In a statement, the campaign’s co-manager Susie Wiles campaign claimed: “The far-left Labour Party has inspired Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric.
“In recent weeks, they have recruited and sent party members to campaign for Kamala in critical battleground states, attempting to influence our election.”
The complaint referenced a Washington Post report that suggested “strategists linked to Britain’s Labour Party have been offering advice to Kamala Harris about how to earn back disaffected voters and run a winning campaign from the center left”.
It also mentioned a Daily Telegraph report that suggested Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, and Matthew Doyle, his director of communications, “attended a convention in Chicago and met with Ms Harris’s campaign team”.
The complaint also cited a now deleted LinkedIn post from Sofia Patel, head of operations at the Labour party, who wrote that “nearly 100” current and former Labour party staff would be travelling to the US to help elect Ms Harris.
Mr Trump’s lawyers argue such support amounts to “contributions” from foreign actors, in violation of US campaign finance laws.
Mr Trump’s lawyers argued Labour’s reported support for Kamala Harris amounted to ‘contributions’ from foreign actors, something prohibited under US campaign finance laws (AP)
However, there is no evidence that the Labour Party had made any financial contributions to the Democrat campaign. The Labour Party was approached for comment.
Sir Keir and Mr Trump met for the first time last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, where he and the former Republican president shared a two-hour dinner.
Sir Keir said at the time that it was up to the US electorate to decide who their next leader would be, and insisted: “We will work with whoever is president.”
Mr Trump said of Sir Keir: “I am going to see him in about an hour so I have to be nice. I actually think he is very nice.
“He ran a great race, he did very well. It is very early but he is popular. It is very early but I will send your regards.”
Last week, British employment minister Alison McGovern made reference to the Labour party staff would be travelling to the US to help elect Ms Harris.
She told Sky News: “As far as I know, this is a voluntary thing and it’s about volunteers going and sharing their time.
“This is a normal thing that happens in elections. It is not the first time Labour staff have travelled to the US during presidential elections to campaign for the Democratic nominee.”
The Federal Election Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces US campaign finance laws and oversees US federal elections, according to its website.
Sir Keir, leader of the UK Labour Party and British prime minister, won the UK’s General election in July earlier this year after more than a decade of the Conservative Party being in power.