A former Labour minister has dismissed a legal complaint against the party by Donald Trump’s campaign team as a ‘political stunt’.
Sir Ben Bradshaw, who served in roles including Culture Secretary and health minister under Gordon Brown, also said there was ‘no evidence’ that the personal relationship between Keir Starmer and the presidential candidate has been damaged in the row.
Yesterday, the Trump team lodged a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against both Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign and the UK Labour Party over what it called ‘illegal foreign campaign contributions and interference in our elections’.
They pointed to a LinkedIn post from Labour’s Head of Operations which said there were 10 slots left for anyone who wanted to join 100 current and former party staff travelling to the US to help Harris get elected on November 5, adding ‘we will sort your housing’.
US campaign finance laws stipulate that volunteers from abroad can’t spend more than £1,000 (£770) supporting their chosen candidate.
But Sir Ben said: ‘I thought it was a political stunt, and I’m amazed that the British media have become so hysterical about it.
‘I mean, this has always happened. Volunteers from all the political parties in this country have helped out their sister parties in other countries, not just America.’
He added that some figures from the Conservative Party had also travelled over to campaign for the Democrats in the past – and that while he himself had never done so in the US, he had previously helped campaign for the SDP in Germany.
Asked whether there was a risk that relations between Donald Trump and Keir Starmer could be strained, Sir Ben responded: ‘Where’s the evidence for that? I don’t think it’s caused any rift whatsoever.
‘People are failing to separate government relations from individual volunteering in an election campaign by members of a political party – [it’s] completely separate.’
He continued: ‘The Trump campaign is indulging in a political stunt, that’s what campaigns do. I wouldn’t read more into than that, it certainly hasn’t had an impact on US government relations.
‘The Labour government will work with whoever is President of the United States, as Labour governments always have.’
Trump has not yet addressed his campaign’s allegations on his website Truth Social, on his X account, or in public.
Sir Keir was asked about the complaint by reporters while travelling to Samoa for a meeting of Commonwealth heads of government.
He said volunteers from Labour had gone over ‘pretty much every election’ and ‘they’re staying, I think, with other volunteers over there’.
The PM added that he had ‘established a good relationship’ with the Republican candidate following a dinner with him in New York.
He has never met Kamala Harris, but has met President Joe Biden on several occasions since winning the July 5 General Election.
Standing in for Sir Keir at Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon, Deputy PM Angela Rayner said: ‘People in their own time often go and campaign, and that’s what we’ve seen.
‘It happens in all political parties, people go and campaign and they do what they want to do with their own time, with their own money.’
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