US Election 2024: Trump raps UK Labour Party for ‘election interference’; British PM Keir Starmer rejects claims

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has downplayed concerns regarding alleged interference by the Labour Party in the upcoming US presidential election, following accusations from former US President Donald Trump.

While on a flight to Samoa, Starmer addressed the matter, and downplayed concerns about potential damage to relations with Trump should he reclaim the presidency on November 5, asserting that Labour supporters were volunteering independently. "This is about people volunteering in their own time," he said.

Starmer emphasised that such participation in US elections has been a longstanding practice for Labour volunteers. He added, “They're doing it in their spare time, they're doing it as volunteers, they're staying I think with other volunteers over there.”

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner also defended the volunteers in Parliament, stating, "People in their own time often go and campaign, and that’s what we’ve seen. It happens in all political parties; people go and campaign and they do what they want to do with their own money."

Trump has claimed that the Labour Party's involvement in US politics constitutes "blatant foreign interference", after reports surfaced that Labour volunteers travelled to the US to support the campaign of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

In response to the allegations, Trump’s campaign has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in Washington, requesting an investigation into what they consider potentially illegal contributions from the Labour Party to Harris’s campaign.

Reports have indicated that several senior Labour advisers recently travelled to the US to consult with Democrat strategists, particularly in the wake of Labour's significant victory in the British election last July. One of the key discussion points was how to regain support in former industrialised areas that had shifted away from Labour in 2019. 

The Trump campaign's complaint cites a now-deleted LinkedIn post by Sofia Patel, head of operations at the Labour Party. Patel's post indicated that nearly 100 current and former Labour staff members were set to travel to the US in the coming weeks to assist in Harris's election efforts, further fuelling Trump's allegations of interference.