The real story behind the Labour-Trump row

Everyone has missed what matters to the man who would be president

- Tom Newton Dunn

The Brits are Coming!" screamed the headline of the Trump campaign's press release. It turned out to be the most moderate part of it. An absolute masterclass in hyperbole followed. Accusations of "illegal foreign assistance" and "anti-American election interference", a parallel to the 243rd anniversary last week of the surrender of British forces at Yorktown, and everything topped off with the ominous historical warning: "When representatives of the British government previously sought to go door-to-door in America, it did not end well for them." To blame for all of it? "The far-Left Labour Party".

Within minutes of the press release dropping, the LinkedIn post from Labour's head of operations, Sofia Patel, that started it all- asking for 10 volunteers to campaign for Kamala Harris in North Carolina - had exploded into a full-blown diplomatic incident and a major new headache for Sir Keir Starmer.

Except, it wasn't one at all, actually. Downing Street can stop losing sleep over it, and quietly probably have already. But it does help to be on this side of the Atlantic to see why.

American election campaigns are different to ours, and it takes a little time here to really appreciate that. The theatrical is all. UK elections have their fair share of Punch and Judy, but still retain at least half their focus on policy. In the US, policy discussion - by candidates or the media-occupies 20 per cent of the bandwidth. In the land of the performative, what everyone chases is sentiment.

That's why we Brits can make the mistake of taking presidential candidates too literally. Americans don't. Which is why, if you ask the significant majority of the 48 per cent of Americans already voting for Trump (and I must have spoken to hundreds) they'll tell you he won't do half the things he says he will, and that's just fine by them.