Trump team accuses UK's Labour party of election meddling

TOI CORRESPONDENT from London: Donald Trump's lawyer has written to the Federal Election Commission to request an immediate investigation into "blatant foreign interference" in the US president election by the UK Labour Party, alleging that "illegal foreign contributions" were made by Labour to Kamala Harris' campaign.

This comes after a LinkedIn post by Labour head of operations Sofia Patel surfaced last week in which she said 100 Labour staff were going to the US to campaign for Harris in battleground states. "We will sort your housing," she said.

The letter from Trump's deputy general counsel, which has sparked fears the US-UK ties could be soured if Trump wins on Nov 5, pointed out that foreign nationals "may not be compensated, may not make expenditures, and may not direct or control activities of US campaigns". It alleged that language used in Patel's post "supports a reasonable inference that Labour Party will finance at least travel and facilitate room and board." Citing example, the letter said Australian Labour Party's campaigning for Bernie Sanders in 2016 led to a $14,500 fine.

Even if they are volunteers, Labour appears to be using party resources, including paid staff time, to coordinate their travel, the letter says. "There is reason to believe that foreign nationals are exercising direction and control over elements of the Harris campaign," it continues, referring to "the similarity in messaging" between her campaign and Labour.

UK PM Keir Starmer played down the row, saying Labour always sends volunteers to campaign for Democrats every election. "Where Labour activists take part, they do so at their own expense, in accordance with the laws and rules," a party spokesperson said. The US FEC said any enforcement matters must be kept confidential until resolved and closed.