Starmer should have called off Labour’s ‘British invasion’ of US election…it’ll come back to haunt him when Trump wins

BACK on April 16, 1775, during the American Revolution, Paul Revere got wind that the British were planning a raid on the city of Concord in the coming days.

Once that information was confirmed, Revere made plans to alert the surrounding countryside on horseback that the Redcoats would be marching to destroy their military supplies.

Revere had to figure out the best way to signal which route the British would be taking. Would it be by land, or by sea?

Revere then realised that he could place lanterns high in the steeple of the Old North Church in Boston. One lantern if the British were invading by land. Two lanterns if by sea.

Two hundred and forty-nine years later, we need a third lantern. One that signals the British are invading again. This time by air.

Which they have. Upwards of 100 British Labour Party staff have “invaded” the United States to campaign for Kamala Harris in various swing states.

That, at least, is the way the campaign of former President Donald Trump and his supporters view the move.

More than that, they are openly accusing Britain’s new governing party of “blatant foreign interference.”

With that charge levelled, a lawyer for the former president just filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in the United States against both the UK’s Labour Party and the Harris campaign.

The Trump campaign’s complaint came about after a LinkedIn post from Sofia Patel - a Labour head of operations - stated: “I have nearly 100 Labour Party staff (current and former) going to the US in the next few weeks heading to North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

"I have 10 spots available for anyone available to head to the battleground state of North Carolina – we will sort your housing.”

By all accounts, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is a very level-headed and pragmatic leader. He should have vetoed this attention-getting stunt by Labour.

Unfortunately, he did not.

Worse, with a wink and a nod, he openly endorsed it.

Starmer should know this “invasion” has already backfired on multiple levels. Not only has it upset candidate Trump and his campaign team, but a growing number of Members of Congress.

Going back to the subject of the “American Revolution,” Trump campaign co-manager Susie Wiles declared in part: “Americans will once again reject the oppression of big government that we rejected in 1776” while she described the Labour Party as being “far-left” and one which has “inspired Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies.”

Additionally, former British Prime Minister Liz Truss told CNN: “I think it’s incredibly arrogant of the Labour Party to think that they have anything to offer the American people.”

Arrogant and again, potentially very self-destructive.

Maybe Prime Minister Starmer and his ruling party misplaced their copy of the “Political and International Relations 101” handbook.

If so, allow me to give them an update.

Six weeks ago, I wrote in the United States that the campaign of Kamala Harris was “collapsing.” I did so via background information relayed to me by highly experienced Democratic operatives.

The odds are growing by the day that Trump is going to win the election.

Starmer and his team are certainly aware of those odds. Why then, would they endorse an action which could damage relations with the incoming American administration?

In the past, British governments have diplomatically gone to great lengths to avoid the suggestion that they would prefer one presidential candidate over another.

Not now.

Today, Trump, his campaign, and powerful Members of Congress view the Labour Party as seeking to bring down Donald Trump… on American soil.

Even after this “invasion” heated up into a full-blown controversy, Starmer still sided with his mini-invading army.

He told reporters in part that any Labour Party staffers involved in the trip were there in a personal capacity: “They’re doing it in their spare time, they’re doing it as volunteers, they’re staying, I think, with other volunteers over there.”  

Wink. Nod.

Starmer is very bright and is pragmatic. Why is he irresponsibly playing partisan politics by encouraging what the Trump campaign feels is “foreign election interference.”

And by doing so, negatively impacting the relationship between two great allies.

And for what? To placate hate-filled members of his own party or the far-left media in the UK?

When I worked in the Pentagon, we had a large sign up on the wall which read: “Life is Hard. But it’s a LOT harder if you’re Stupid.”

This partisan “invasion” of the United States by the Labour Party was stupid.

Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and author of the book: The 56 – Liberty Lessons from those who risked all to sign The Declaration of Independence.