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Sir Keir Starmer has insisted his relationship with Donald Trump has not been jeopardised after the Republican candidate’s team accused Labour of “blatant foreign interference” in the US election.

The prime minister said on Tuesday he had “established a good relationship” with Mr Trump despite the Trump campaign filing a legal complaint against Labour officials travelling to the US to volunteer for Kamala Harris in the tightly fought presidential race.

The complaint, filed with the independent Federal Election Commission, alleged that the volunteering by Labour Party members, coupled with reports of contact between senior Labour operatives and the Harris campaign, amounted to “illegal foreign campaign contributions and interference” to help Mr Trump’s Democrat rival in the US presidential election.

Sir Keir sought to downplay the row and role Labour Party activists were playing in the US election as he travelled to Samoa for the annual Commonwealth heads of government summit.

Speaking to reporters on the 28-hour flight over, the PM stressed Labour Party members were going over as volunteers rather than on the Labour Party books.

“The Labour Party has volunteers, who have gone over pretty much every election,” he said.

“They’re doing it in their spare time, they’re doing it as volunteers, they’re staying, I think, with other volunteers over there. That’s what they’ve done in previous elections, that’s what they’re doing in this election and that’s really straightforward.”

Donald Trump. Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

The Labour Party has insisted it is not funding the travel or accommodation for activists. Federal election rules stipulate foreign volunteers can’t spend more than $1,000 (£770) helping candidates.

However, in filing the complaint, Mr Trump’s legal team cited media reports that Labour Party officials, including the prime minister’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and Matthew Doyle, Downing Street’s director of communications, had travelled to the US in recent months to advise the Harris campaign.

The Trump team also cited a now-deleted LinkedIn post by Sofia Patel, director of operations for Labour, that suggested the party could be paying accommodation costs for activists, with the post stating “we will sort out your housing”.

“Those searching for foreign interference in our elections need to look no further than [the] LinkedIn post,” said the letter from Trump campaign lawyer Gary Lawkowski. “The interference is occurring in plain sight.”

Mr Trump’s lawyers say such support breaches US campaign finance laws, as they count as contributions from foreign actors, and they demanded an “immediate investigation” into what they called “blatant foreign interference” in the election.

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Starmer’s first 100 days explained

Starmer and Trump ‘established a good relationship’

The prime minister argued the row would not jeopardise his relationship with Mr Trump should the Republican candidate win the election, insisting the pair had “established a good relationship” when they dined at Trump Tower together last month.

Sir Keir said: “I spent time in New York with President Trump, had dinner with him, and my purpose in doing that was to make sure that between the two of us we established a good relationship, which we did, and we’re grateful for him for making the time for that dinner.

“We had a good, constructive discussion and of course, as prime minister of the United Kingdom I will work with whoever the American people return as their president in their elections, which are very close now.”

The tensions between the ruling Labour Party and possible next US president come as the prime minister travels to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on the Pacific island of Samoa this week, where he hopes to discuss trade opportunities ahead of next week’s historic budget.

His team back in Downing Street and the Treasury are putting the finishing touches on, in the words of one insider, an “unprecedented” budget that looks to bridge a shortfall of £40bn.

To plug the gap, the prime minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who insisted ahead of the election they had “no plans” to raise taxes beyond what was laid out in the manifesto, are now rolling the pitch for a mix of big tax increases and spending cuts.

With such big stakes back home, coupled with a difficult run for a prime minister beset by rows over freebies and dysfunction in Number 10, one former adviser wondered aloud to me this week whether Sir Keir was spending too much time overseas when he should be focused on the domestic agenda back home and resetting his missions more clearly with the public.

However, he and his team defended the prime minister’s decision to travel to CHOGM a week before the budget, arguing these summits help to reset Britain’s relations in the world and drive trade.

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‘Difficult choices’ in Reeves’ budget

One of his staffers noted the 56 Commonwealth nations’ economies are set to be worth $19.5trn (£15trn) by 2027 and these are markets worth tapping into.

But it is true too the leaders of the biggest Commonwealth economies are not in attendance.

Fellow G7 leader Justin Trudeau of Canada is not making the long trip to Samoa, while India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are in Kazan as Russian President Vladimir Putin plays host to 36 world leaders at a BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit.

Pressure over question of reparations

Meanwhile, the prime minister is also under pressure from some Labour MPs and Caribbean governments over reparations for countries affected by slavery and colonialism.

While Sir Keir is clear he doesn’t plan to engage in this discussion at the summit, it is nevertheless rising up the agenda.

This week, the Commonwealth will select a new secretary general and all three candidates vying to replace Patricia Scotland, the former Labour cabinet minister who’s been in post since 2016, have called for reparations for countries affected by slavery and colonialism.

But as the first sitting British prime minister to visit a Pacific island in a formal capacity, the prime minister will want to make the case his is, to quote one staffer, a “once in a generation opportunity” to harness the Commonwealth.

With tensions back home over the budget and the man who could be the next president of the United States, unity this week with old allies is what he needs.

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After six months of planning, Reform’s immigration policy is as clear as mud

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After six months of planning, Reform's immigration policy is as clear as mud

Reform’s plan was meant to be detailed. Instead, there’s more confusion.

The party had grown weary of the longstanding criticism that their tough talk on immigration did not come with a full proposal for what they would do to tackle small boats if they came to power.

So, after six months of planning, yesterday they attempted to put flesh on to the bones of their flagship policy.

Politics latest: Farage rows back on pledge to deport illegal migrant women and girls

At an expensive press conference in a vast airhanger in Oxford, the headline news was clear: Reform UK would deport anyone who comes here by small boat, arresting, detaining and then deporting up to 600,000 people in the first five years of governing.

They would leave international treaties and repeal the Human Rights Act to do it

But, one day later, that policy is clear as mud when it comes to who this would apply to.

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Nigel Farage launched an airport-style departures board to illustrate how many illegal migrants have arrived in the UK. Pic: PA
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Nigel Farage launched an airport-style departures board to illustrate how many illegal migrants have arrived in the UK. Pic: PA

I asked Farage at the time of the announcement whether this would apply to women and girls – an important question – as the basis for their extreme policy seemed to hinge on the safety of women and girls in the UK.

He was unequivocal: “Yes, women and children, everybody on arrival will be detained.

“And I’ve accepted already that how we deal with children is a much more complicated and difficult issue.”

But a day later, he appeared to row back on this stance at a press conference in Scotland, saying Reform is “not even discussing women and children at this stage”.

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He later clarified that if a single woman came by boat, then they could fall under the policy, but if “a woman comes with children, we will work out the best thing to do”.

A third clarification in the space of 24 hours on a flagship policy they worked on over six months seems like a pretty big gaffe, and it only feeds into the Labour criticism that these plans aren’t yet credible.

If they had hoped to pivot from rhetoric to rigour, this announcement showed serious pitfalls.

But party strategists probably will not be tearing out too much hair over this, with polling showing Reform UK still as the most trusted party on the issue of immigration overall.

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Crypto trader ups MEXC ‘bounty’ to $2.5M after in-person KYC request

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Crypto trader ups MEXC ‘bounty’ to .5M after in-person KYC request

Crypto trader ups MEXC ‘bounty’ to .5M after in-person KYC request

The “White Whale” increased his social media pressure campaign to $2.5 million after claiming that MEXC requested an in-person KYC verification in Malaysia.

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US appeals time served sentences for HashFlare Ponzi schemers

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US appeals time served sentences for HashFlare Ponzi schemers

US appeals time served sentences for HashFlare Ponzi schemers

Prosecutors appealed the sentences given to HashFlare founders Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, after arguing the pair should get 10 years in prison.

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