The LinkedIn account of a senior Labour official has been deleted after she revealed dozens of the party's staff will travel to the US to campaign for Kamala Harris in swing states, sparking a further spat between the UK’s governing party and Elon Musk.
Sofia Patel, Labour's head of operations, posted on the professional social networking site on Wednesday, revealing that nearly 100 party staff, current and former, would be 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,” she wrote in the now deleted post.
Her profile on the professional social media networking site has also been deleted, while a page about her has been removed by Newham Labour, where she stood as a candidate.
The Labour Party did not respond to a request for a comment from The National.
Ms Patel’s post has been widely criticised by supporters of the Republican candidate and former president, Donald Trump. They include X owner, Elon Musk, who shared a post on Thursday with a screenshot of Ms Patel’s appeal with the comment, “this is illegal”. Mr Musk's post has been retweeted more than 50,000 times and liked 200,000 times.
The US's Federal Election Commission rules allow foreign volunteers to take part in campaigning but they must not be paid.
Former UK prime minister Liz Truss, shared the post, commenting: “President Trump is definitely going to win now.”
When asked about the situation during an interview with Sky News, Labour MP Alison McGovern said it was "normal". She said: "As far as I know, this is a voluntary thing and it's about volunteers going and sharing their time. This is a normal thing that happens in elections."
The post marks the latest chapter in the continuing war between the social media tycoon and the Labour Party, which was recently accused of snubbing Mr Musk by failing to invite him to its recent investment summit.
It was claimed Labour did not invite the X owner after he repeatedly targeted Prime Minister and Labour leader Keir Starmer on his platform.
Mr Musk’s attacks included calling Mr Starmer “two-tier Keir” in a reference to a theory that police treat far-right white protesters more harshly than minority groups. He had previously said “civil war is inevitable” while sharing a video of riots in Liverpool.
“I don’t think anyone should go to the UK when they’re releasing convicted paedophiles in order to imprison people for social media posts,” he wrote in another post.
British MP Nigel Farage, a keen supporter of Mr Trump, also weighed in on Friday to criticise Ms Patel.
“This is direct election interference by the governing Labour Party, and particularly stupid if Trump wins. Who is paying for all of this?” he wrote in a post on X on Friday.
He was joined by several US politicians, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, who accused Ms Patel of breaking Federal Election Commission laws. “Foreign nationals are not allowed to be involved in any way in US elections. Go back to the UK and fix your own mass immigration problems that are ruining your country,” wrote the Republican member of the House and vocal supporter of Mr Trump.
Republican senator Tom Cotton said it was “yet another reason to vote for president Trump”.
US authorities allow foreign volunteers to campaign for candidates, as long as they are “uncompensated”. The law states that although foreign nationals may not make contributions or expenditures in connection with any federal, state or local election, “an individual who is a foreign national may participate in campaign activities as an uncompensated volunteer”.
Labour activists travelled to the US to campaign for Hillary Clinton in 2016, but the Covid pandemic meant they were not present during the 2020 campaign.
