Labour officials did nothing wrong by helping Harris, says Tory ex-minister

Labour did nothing wrong when party officials campaigned for Kamala Harris in the US presidential election, a former Conservative minister said yesterday after Downing Street faced fury from Donald Trump over the move.

- Peter Walker

Robert Buckland, who has also campaigned for Harris owing to his distaste for Trump, said it appeared Labour activists who knocked on doors had volunteered and covered their own expenses, which would not be a breach of US laws on overseas involvement in elections.

His intervention comes after Trump's campaign filed a legal complaint alleging that apparent efforts by Labour's head of operations to organise volunteers amounted to "illegal foreign national contributions", hitting out at what it called Keir Starmer's "far-left" party.

After Starmer said he believed the row would not affect his relationship with Trump, Labour officials insisted the party had no role in organising or funding staff who joined US campaign efforts, and that such volunteering was by no means unusual.