Keir Starmer is forced to give up hope of meeting Kamala Harris

Sir Keir Starmer has given up hope of meeting Kamala Harris before the US election. 

The Prime Minister said last month that he wanted to meet both candidates vying to be US president before the election in November.

He met former president Donald Trump in New York at the end of last month, the pair enjoying a two-hour dinner, but 'diary challenges' have prevented him meeting Democratic candidate Ms Harris.

Now, with less than two weeks to go until the US goes to the polls, it is understood the PM will not meet Ms Harris beforehand.

The admission comes after Mr Trump's campaign claimed the Labour Party was interfering in the US election.

A statement on Mr Trump's website, Donald J. Trump For President 2024 on Tuesday night announced an official complaint had been filed with US federal election officials, and claimed the 'far-left' Labour Party had 'made, and the Harris campaign has accepted, illegal foreign national contributions'.

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Sir Keir has insisted that his relationship with Mr Trump, who could be the next US president following the closely fought race, would not be jeopardised by the incident.

'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 I was very grateful to him for making the time.'

After describing the meeting as a 'good, constructive discussion', Sir Keir added: 'Of course as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, I will work with whoever the American people return as their president in the elections that are very close now.'

When he travelled to New York in September, Sir Keir had also hoped to meet Ms Harris but was not able to schedule a meeting then either.