US labor volunteers are helping Harris ‘in their spare time’, says Keir Starmer

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer played down the significance of the Labor Party’s interference in the US presidential election.

The Trump campaign has filed a complaint and the Federal Election Commission in Washington is demanding an immediate investigation into allegations of “foreign interference”.

Sir Keir, who met Trump last month, said the party’s staff who traveled to the US to campaign for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris were volunteers “doing it in their spare time” and staying with other volunteers.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed told the BBC that the Labor Party did not fund or organize their trip.

Sir Keir has denied that the row is jeopardizing his relationship with Trump.

Foreigners are allowed to volunteer for US political campaigns as long as they are not compensated, according to Federal Election Commission rules.

Labor Party sources insist that no one has done anything wrong, but there is an undeniable sense of tension with Trump, who can be elected president in two days.

Labor officials have invested a lot of energy in trying to build connections with the Trump campaign, which is in opposition and now in power, which may now be in jeopardy.

The conflict was caused by a since-deleted report on social media from Labor’s Head of Operations, Sofia Patel, who said she had about 100 current and former workers in the group heading to America before polling day.

In a LinkedIn post, he said he had “ten places available” for anyone willing to travel to North Carolina to campaign for Harris, adding “we’ll organize your houses”.

Next appeal to the Trump campaign both indicative and theatrical.

Speaking of the US victory in its war of independence nearly 250 years ago, he says: “When the representatives of the British government wanted to go door to door in America, it didn’t end well for them.”

The Trump campaign’s complaint to the commission flags that senior Labor Party workers attended the Democratic Alliance convention in Chicago and met with Harris’ campaign team, which includes Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister’s chief of staff, and Matthew Doyle, Downing Street communications director.

Deborah Mattinson, Sir Keir’s former director of strategy, has also been named as the person to travel to Washington in September to inform Ms Harris’s presidential campaign of how to win the Labor election.

Ms Mattinson no longer works for Labour.

Labor sources say McSweeney and Doyle attended the Democratic Alliance convention on their own time, and that the Democratic Party did not cover their travel or lodging expenses.

Accommodation appears to be provided by other volunteers and travel expenses appear to be paid by the volunteers themselves.

Sir Keir addressed this issue briefly on his way to the Summit of International Heads of Government in Samoa in the South Pacific.

He told reporters: “The Labor Party has volunteers, [they] they have passed almost every election.

“They do it in their free time. They do it as volunteers. I always think there are other volunteers out there.”

Asked if the row threatened his relationship with Donald Trump, the prime minister said “no” – pointing to a dinner the two men had together at Trump Tower in New York last month.

“We are building a good relationship. We thank him very much for making the time… for that dinner,” said Sir Keir.

“We had a good and constructive discussion and as the prime minister of the United Kingdom I will work with whoever the American people return as president in their election, which is very close now.”

Sir Keir has not met Vice President Harris, Trump’s Democratic rival.

But he has met with President Biden several times since becoming prime minister in July.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Reed said UK volunteers campaigning in US elections was “not unusual”.

“It is up to private citizens how they spend their time and money, and it is not uncommon for supporters of a team in one country to campaign for their fellow team in another, it happens here and there in many countries.

“But none of this was organized or sponsored by the Labor Party itself, these are people who make their own choices as they are free to do.”

Reed highlighted the UK’s “long-standing special relationship” with the US, adding that the Labor government “will work closely with whoever the people of the United States elect as their president in November”.

He said Sir Keir had a “very helpful and respectful dinner” with Trump in New York last month, in addition to meeting President Biden at the White House.