(Bloomberg) -- UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Donald Trump’s legal complaint against his Labour Party over alleged election interference won’t jeopardize their relationship if the former president wins the US election next month.
Lawyers for Trump accused the Labour Party of “blatant foreign interference” and illegal foreign campaign contributions to Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign, in a filing with the Federal Election Commission earlier this week. The Republican nominee’s complaint cited a since-deleted social media post by a Labour official saying almost 100 current and former staff members planned to travel to battleground states to campaign on Harris’ behalf.
Starmer denied that the dispute would impact his relationship with Trump, who he met for the first time over a two-hour dinner in New York last month. “We had a good, constructive discussion and, of course as prime minister of the United Kingdom, I will work with whoever the American people return as their president in their elections which are very close now,” Starmer said while en route to a Commonwealth summit in Samoa.
Labour Party volunteers “have gone over pretty much every election,” Starmer told reporters.
While the complaint could help Trump deflect longstanding Democratic criticism about support he’s received over the years from foreign sources such as Russia, it’s unlikely to gain much traction in the US. American campaign teams routinely meet with representatives of foreign governments, and foreign nationals are permitted to serve as volunteers so along as they aren’t compensated.
The spat will nonetheless deepen concerns in the UK that Starmer would be the odd man out in Washington if Trump wins a second term in less than two weeks. Former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson played up his ability to communicate with Trump during their overlapping stints as leaders, although the billionaire Republican was and remains broadly unpopular in the UK.
The Democrats and the UK’s Labour Party have long been ideological bedfellows, and have exchanged advisers, including Democratic strategist Bob Shrum who went on to advise Labour former Chancellor and Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Shrum told Bloomberg last month that there’s been “cross-pollination between progressive strategists in the US and the Labour Party” for the past 30 years.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, have enjoyed similar connections with the Republican Party. And Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, a prominent critic of both main UK parties, has appeared at rallies to support Trump in his previous election campaigns.
Several Labour activists who’ve traveled to the US to help Harris told Bloomberg they’ve largely been involved with low-level activities such as canvasing. That was echoed by Cabinet minister Steve Reed during appearances on British broadcasters on Wednesday morning.
“Some private individuals are choosing to spend their own money and their free time campaigning in the US during the election,” Reed told Times Radio, adding that “none of this has been organized or paid for by” Labour. “It’s individuals choosing to spend their own free time and their own money in the way that they choose.”
A number of Starmer’s senior advisers including his now chief of staff Morgan McSweeney attended the Democratic National Convention in August. The Democrats didn’t pay for his visit, Labour said.
Labour activists have kept a lower profile than Farage. The Reform UK chief defended his own campaigning on American soil in a statement on Wednesday, arguing it wasn’t funded by a foreign political group.
Trump’s campaign said it believed “foreign nationals are exercising direction and control over elements of the Harris campaign” marked by “similarity in messaging” between the two campaigns. British and American voters share concerns on immigration, housing and the economy, though debate over the right to an abortion — a key feature of the US campaign — has long been absent from British politics.
The flap offers Trump — who faced a special counsel investigation during his term that ultimately concluded there was not evidence he had coordinated with Russian electoral interference activities — the opportunity to go on offense on issues Democrats have used to criticize him. Trump’s recent partnership with billionaire Elon Musk has also prompted campaign finance questions.
Musk, who has been feuding with Starmer’s government over whether he and his social media platform X have stoked anti-immigrant unrest in Britain, retweeted a post outlining Trump’s complaint against Labour with the one-word response “Good.”
--With assistance from Niluksi Koswanage, Michael Heath, Ailbhe Rea, Alex Morales and John Harney.
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