[Holly Christmas]

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has played down the significance of alleged interference by the Labour Party in the US presidential election.

The Trump campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in Washington seeking an immediate investigation into alleged "blatant foreign interference".

Sir Keir, who met Trump last month, said party staff going to the US to campaign for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris were volunteers "doing it in their spare time" and staying with other volunteers.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed told the BBC the Labour Party had not funded or organised their trips, while Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner also insisted the activists had been campaigning "in their own time".