December 25, 2024

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks with leaders from across the UK at the International Investment Summit on October 13, 2024 in London, England.

Wpa Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Britain’s ruling Labor Party has denied accusations by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign that members of the British Labor Party interfered in the upcoming U.S. election.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign on Monday accused Labor of “blatant foreign interference” in voting after labor volunteers traveled to several U.S. battleground states to help Democratic candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris campaign.

“It is common practice for candidates of all political persuasions around the world to voluntarily participate in U.S. elections. When Labor activists participate, they do so at their own expense and in accordance with the law and rules,” a Labor spokesman said in an emailed comment to CNBC.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also refuted the accusations during a visit to Samoa in the South Pacific earlier on Wednesday.

“The Labor Party has volunteers and (they) participate in almost every election,” he said. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation.

“They do it in their spare time. They do it as volunteers. I think they’re there with other volunteers,” he noted.

Asked whether the row would damage his relationship with Donald Trump, the prime minister said “no” and pointed to a dinner the two politicians enjoyed at Trump Tower in New York last month. British public broadcaster reports.

Asked about the accusations in parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Reyna told lawmakers on Wednesday that “people often go to campaign in their own time and that’s what we see, it happens in all political parties and people Go campaign and they do what they want to do with their money.

complain

On Monday, the Trump campaign File a complaint with the Federal Election CommissionThe alleged interference came in the form of “clearly illegal donations from foreign nationals provided by the British Labor Party and accepted by Vice President Kamala Harris’ main campaign committee”.

This is objection U.S. law Foreigners directly or indirectly “Make any contribution of money or other thing of value, or expressly or implicitly make any such contribution” In connection with U.S. elections, or any person soliciting, accepting or receiving any such contributions from a foreign person.

The Trump campaign called for an investigation into the matter, citing media reports in The Washington Post and The Telegraph that suggested the center-left Labor Party had been “advising Kamala Harris on how to win back disaffected voters.” , and the “Harris Family” campaign… borrowed generously from the language and themes of prominent Labor officials. “

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump makes a gesture during the 11th Hour Faith Leaders Conference in Concord, North Carolina, United States, October 21, 2024.

Brian Snyder | Reuters

The letter then cited a since-deleted LinkedIn post in which Labor operations director Sofia Patel said nearly 100 current and former Labor staff would be traveling to North Carolina, North Carolina, and North Carolina in the coming weeks. Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia. According to the caption of the post in the Trump campaign’s letter, Patel said the party will “arrange” housing for any volunteers who make the trip.

CNBC has contacted Labor for comment on the veracity of the post.

The Trump campaign said, “Those looking for foreign interference in our elections need look no further than Ms. Patel’s LinkedIn posts.” He added, “This interference is clearly occurring.”

“Ms. Patel’s posts and news reports surrounding the relationship between the Harris campaign and the Labor Party led to the reasonable inference that the Labor Party had accepted illegal foreign contributions,” the complaint states.

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