Trump team accuses UK's Labour Party of interference in US presidential election

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) - Republican nominee Donald Trump has accused the UK's Labour Party of attempting to interfere in the Nov. 5 US presidential election.

Trump's team on Tuesday filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission, accusing the Labour Party of sending members to the US to campaign on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate.

The legal team cited a now-deleted LinkedIn post from Sofia Patel, Labour's head of operations, which called for volunteers to support Harris' campaign, claiming that nearly 100 Party members had already committed to traveling to the US for this purpose. “[We] will sort out your housing,” the post said.

Trump’s camp alleged that the Labour Party was providing "illegal foreign campaign contribution and assistance" to help Harris, in violation of US campaign finance laws.

Speaking to reporters while en route to the Commonwealth summit in Samoa, an island nation, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to dismiss concerns that the complaint might damage UK-US relations if Trump returns to the White House.

"I spent time in New York with President Trump, had dinner with him, and we established a good relationship," Starmer said. "We had a good, constructive discussion, and as prime minister of the United Kingdom, I will work with whoever the American people elect as their president."

Starmer said the party members volunteering for the Harris campaign were doing so in a personal capacity.

"The Labour Party … volunteers have gone over pretty much every election. They’re doing it in their spare time, they’re staying with other volunteers over there," he said.

He insisted that the volunteering was "really straightforward" and consistent with previous election campaigns.