Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has accused Sir Keir Starmer’s “far-left” Labour Party of interfering in the US election in an extraordinary attack.
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 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.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer dismissed the claims, which follows reports of senior Labour officials meeting with Kamala Harris’ campaign, and Labour Party staffers volunteering on the ground for her campaign.
Asked if it was a mistake for senior staffers to have met with the Harris campaign, Sir Keir insisted any members of his party were in the US on an entirely voluntary basis, similar to in previous elections.
“That’s what they’ve done in previous elections, is what they’re doing in this election. And that’s really straightforward,” he told reporters as he travelled to Samoa for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders.
The Trump campaign complaint cited 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.
However, there is no evidence that the Labour Party had made any financial contributions to the Democrat campaign.
Pressed about whether Labour officials’ involvement in the Harris-Waltz Democrat campaign could jeopardise his relationship with Mr Trump if the ex-president wins re-election, Sir Keir said: “No.”
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.
The prime minister said: “I spent time in New York with President Trump, had dinner with him, and my purpose in doing that was to make sure that between the two of us we established a good relationship, which we did, and I was very grateful to him for making the time.”
After describing the meeting as a “good, constructive discussion”, Sir Keir added: “Of course as prime minister of the United Kingdom, I will work with whoever the American people return as their president in the elections that are very close now.”
At the time, 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.