British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday sought to downplay Labour Party workers heading to the US to campaign for Kamala Harris in the US presidential race after her opponent Donald Trump accused the UK’s governing party of “blatant foreign interference”.
The row was triggered by a now-deleted social media post by Labour’s head of operations, Sofia Patel, calling on party colleagues to join her group on a campaign tour to the battleground states in the American election on November 5.
The post triggered a backlash from the Republicans in America. However, under US law, foreign nationals can legally volunteer in an election campaign in an unpaid capacity. “The Labour Party has volunteers. [they] have gone over pretty much every election,” said Starmer, who is en route to the Pacific island country of Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
“They’re doing it in their spare time. They’re doing it as volunteers. They’re staying I think with other volunteers over there,” he told reporters while responding to a question.
“We had a good, constructive discussion and, of course, as prime minister of the United Kingdom I will work with whoever the American people elect as their president in the elections, which are very close now,” he said in response to concerns around UK-US ties if Trump was elected.
The Labour Party is believed to have been sending almost 100 current and former party staff members to the US to campaign for the Democrats in swing states where the vote is too close to call between Harris and Trump.
“I have nearly 100 Labour Party staff, current and former, going to the US in the next few weeks, heading to North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia,” read Patel’s now-deleted LinkedIn post. “I have 10 spots available for anyone to head to the battleground state of [North] Carolina – we will sort your housing.”
However, no evidence suggested these Labour volunteers were involved in any decision-making for the Harris campaign as the US Federal Election Commission did not approve of it. “Most people’s LinkedIn accounts do signify what they tend to do in their professional life as well, but they’re personal accounts,” UK Defence Secretary John Healey told the BBC.
While Starmer met Trump over dinner in New York last month, he has not met Harris since taking charge at 10 Downing Street. However, he has met President Joe Biden several times since he was elected Prime Minister in July.
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