Starmer tries to limit damage from Trump fight
Trump’s campaign has filed a fiery complaint to the US electoral regulator, accusing Keir Starmer’s Labour party of interfering in the American election and colluding with the Harris ticket, writes Josh Schlicht.
The complaint centres on a LinkedIn post from the Labour party's head of operations, Sofia Patel, who requested 10 volunteers to join nearly 100 other Labour party staff in a transatlantic expedition to sway the voters of battleground states towards Harris.
The call to arms itself is not without precedent. Indeed, many British volunteers are involved on all sides of US campaigning, including, memorably, a certain head of Reform. However, one line - “we will sort your housing” - has triggered a firestorm.
The Trump camp alleges that such an offer proves Labour is providing direct financial support to volunteers by organising accommodations, which puts the party at odds with US election law, which bans foreign activists from receiving compensation.
Humorously invoking the “last time British government representatives went door-to-door” across the Atlantic, Trump’s campaign chided Labour to remember “the message” sent to Britain in 1783.
In today’s PMQs, Deputy PM Angela Rayner denied wrongdoing and insisted the volunteers were entirely self-funded. However, Labour has yet to respond to Trump's other allegations that top party strategists have been tasked with advising the Harris campaign.
Even if the Labour party has acted lawfully and is right to assert that it has not funded volunteers and strategists, the damage is arguably already done. Trump - who currently leads in betting markets odds and is tied with Harris in national polling - believes that the Labour party is meddling in the American election, and he won't forget this episode when dealing with Britain further down the line.
History has proven that Donald Trump is one to bear a grudge.
Despite years of manoeuvring, Canada’s Trudeau was never able to close the distance he created by criticising Trump. Harsh tariffs were levied on Canada during his term, with the then US President blasting the Canadian PM as weak, dishonest, and two-faced. Treated more as an adversary than a close ally, Canada was humbled throughout Trump's tenure.
Hence why Britain's PM was in crisis-control mode today, desperately seeking to soothe over the controversy. Starmer insisted that he and Trump have a “good relationship” and emphasised his willingness to work constructively with whoever the American people select as President.
His efforts, however, may be further frustrated by his top team. Britain’s foreign secretary David Lammy, who will serve as the frontman for the UK government in dealing with the US, once called Trump a “neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath” and even boycotted his visit in 2018. Rayner has consistently adopted a similar tone, calling Trump a “disgrace” and “an idiot”, while London’s own Sadiq Khan famously sparred with Trump on twitter and recently labelled the former president as a “racist, sexist, homophobe”.
Today’s election interference allegations will only reinforce Trump’s existing belief that Labour is made up of “far-left radicals” who seek to undermine him.
Election interference, or the perception of it, has impacted the UK-US special relationship in years past. The most notable instance came after allegations emerged that PM John Major had assisted incumbent George HW Bush in searching for a “smoking gun” from Bill Clinton’s Oxford years to derail the Democrat’s bid for Presidency. Once President, Clinton snubbed Major on several occasions before the pair mended ties in 1995.
Trump has shown a greater predisposition towards personal vengeance in international relations than Clinton ever did. Meaning Starmer will have to go to great lengths to cross the divide if Trump ascends to the Presidency once again.
Josh Schlicht
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