Starmer insists relationship with Trump has not been jeopardised by ‘blatant foreign interference’ complaint
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.”
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 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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Politics
Diane’s husband was killed by a reckless driver – the wait for justice was almost as painful
Diane Gall’s husband, Martyn, had been out on a morning bike ride with his friends on their usual route one winter morning in November 2020 – when he was killed by a reckless driver.
Diane and her daughters had to wait almost three years for her husband’s case to be heard in court.
The case was postponed three times, often without warning.
“You just honestly lose faith in the system,” she says.
“You feel there’s a system there that should be there to help and protect victims, to be victims’ voices, but the constant delays really take their toll on individuals and us as a family.”
Diane Gall
The first trial date in April 2022 was cancelled on the day and pushed four months later.
The day before the new date, the family were told it wasn’t going ahead due to the barristers’ strike.
It was moved to November 2022, then postponed again, before eventually being heard in June the following year.
“You’re building yourself up for all these dates, preparing yourself for what you’re going to hear, reliving everything that has happened, and it’s retraumatising,” says Diane.
Diane Gall’s husband, Martyn
‘Radical’ reform needed
Diane’s wait for justice gives us an insight into what thousands of victims and their families are battling every day in a court system cracking under the weight of a record-high backlog.
There are 76,957 cases waiting to be heard in Crown Courts across England and Wales, as of the end of March 2025.
To relieve pressure on the system, an independent review by Sir Brian Leveson last month made a number of recommendations – including creating a new division of the Crown Court known as an intermediate court, made up of a judge and two magistrates, and allowing defendants to choose to be tried by judge alone.
He said only “radical” reform would have an impact.
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Will court reforms tackle backlog?
But according to exclusive data collected for Sky News by the Law Society, there is strong scepticism among the industry about some proposed plans.
Before the review was published, we asked 545 criminal lawyers about the idea of a new tier to the Crown Court – 60% of them told us a type of Intermediate Court was unlikely to reduce the backlog.
“It’s moving a problem from one place to another, like moving the deck chairs on the Titanic. It’s not going to do anything,” says Stuart Nolan, chair of the Law Society’s criminal law committee.
“I think the problem with it is lack of resources or lack of will to give the proper resources.
“You can say we need more staff, but they’re not just any staff, they are people with experience and training, and that doesn’t come quickly or cheap.”
Instead, the lawyers told us creating an additional court would harm the quality of justice.
Chloe Jay, senior partner at Shentons Solicitors, agrees the quality of justice will be impacted by a new court division that could sit without a jury for some offences.
She says: “The beauty of the Crown Court is that you have two separate bodies, one deciding the facts and one deciding law.
Casey Jenkins, president of London Criminal Court Solicitors’ Association
“So the jury doesn’t hear the legal arguments about what evidence should be excluded, whether something should be considered as part of the trial, and that’s what really gives you that really good, sound quality of justice, because you haven’t got one person making all the decisions together.
“Potentially in an intermediate court, that is what will happen. The same three people will hear those legal arguments and make the finding of guilt or innocence.”
The most striking finding from the survey is that 73% of criminal lawyers surveyed are worried about offences no longer sitting in front of a jury.
Casey Jenkins, president of London Criminal Court Solicitors’ Association, says this could create unconscious bias.
“There’s a real risk that people from minority backgrounds are negatively impacted by having a trial by a judge and not a jury of their peers who may have the same or similar social background to them,” she says.
“A jury trial is protection against professional judicial decisions by the state. It’s a fundamental right that can be invoked.”
Instead of moving some offences to a new Crown Court tier, our survey suggests criminal lawyers would be more in favour of moving cases to the magistrates instead.
Under the Leveson proposals, trials for offences such as dangerous driving, possessing an offensive weapon and theft could be moved out of the Crown Courts.
‘Catastrophic consequences’
Richard Atkinson, president of the Law Society, says fixing the system will only work with fair funding.
“It’s as important as the NHS, it’s as important as the education system,” he says. “If it crumbles, there will be catastrophic consequences.”
Ms Jenkins agrees that for too long the system has been allowed to fail.
“Everyone deserves justice, this is just not the answer,” she says.
“It’s just the wrong solution to a problem that was caused by chronic, long-term under-investment in the criminal justice system, which is a vital public service.
“The only way to ensure that there’s timely and fair justice for everybody is to invest in all parts of the system from the bottom up: local services, probation, restorative justice, more funding for lawyers so we can give early advice, more funding for the police so that cases are better prepared.”
Government vows ‘bold and ambitious reform’
In response to Sky News’ findings, the minister for courts and legal services, Sarah Sackman KC MP, told Sky News: “We inherited a record and rising court backlog, leaving many victims facing unacceptable delays to see justice done.
“We’ve already boosted funding in our courts system, but the only way out of this crisis is bold and ambitious reform. That is why we are carefully considering Sir Brian’s bold recommendations for long-term change.
“I won’t hesitate to do whatever needs to be done for the benefit of victims.”
The driver that killed Diane’s husband was eventually convicted. She wants those making decisions about the court system to remember those impacted the most in every case.
Every victim and every family.
“You do just feel like a cog in a big wheel that’s out of your control,” she says. “Because you know justice delayed is justice denied.”
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