24-10-2025

Month: October 2024

COAS Munir highlights role of inter-service collaboration for operational success

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir emphasised the critical role of inter-service collaboration, which he believes is essential for achieving operational success during his visit at a Pakistan Air Force air base to witness the ongoing multinational exercise Indus Shield-2024 on Thursday.

In a statement, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that General Munir was received by Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu with Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf also present.

“Exercise Indus Shield-2024 is the biggest multinational exercise of the region that is witnessing participation from 24 esteemed Air Forces converging to foster interoperability and training through state-of-the-art facilities embodying the exercise motto; ‘Stronger When Together’,” the ISPR stated.

Additionally, COAS expressed his satisfaction over the combat readiness of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and the progress made through various modernisation and up-gradation programmes.

“Later, he witnessed exercise operations, static display of various niche and disruptive technologies where he was briefed on the modernisation efforts of Pakistan Air Force to stay abreast with contemporary security challenges which was later followed by an enthralling aerial display by PAF fighter jets.” the army’s media wing added.

General Munir also interacted with the aircrew and appreciated the resolve of PAF personnel to safeguard the aerial frontiers of Pakistan.

“The chief of air staff expressed his gratitude for COAS’s visit, reinforcing the commitment to enhance cooperation between the army and air force in both training and operational contexts,” the ISPR added.

Moreover, he apprised General Munir on modernisation and indigenisation drive being carried out by PAF through induction of state of the art weapon systems, the ISPR further added.

Furthermore, while speaking at the occasion, the air chief highlighted that the ongoing exercise Indus Shield-2024 will go a long way in bolstering interoperability amongst the participating nations and will train their air & ground crews to face contemporary warfare challenges.

Turkey strikes Kurdish militants after deadly attack on defence firm

Turkey said it launched strikes on Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria Wednesday after blaming them for an attack that killed five people at a defence firm near Ankara.

A further 22 people were wounded in the attack, which the government said was “very likely” carried out by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Hours later, “an air operation was carried out against terrorist targets in the north of Iraq and Syria,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

“A total of 32 targets belonging to the terrorists were successfully destroyed,” it said, adding that operations were continuing.

Listed as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies, the PKK has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. It has a number of rear bases in Kurdish regions of Iraq and Syria.

In the attack that sparked the strikes, a huge explosion rocked the headquarters of state-run Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) some 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Ankara shortly after 3:30 pm.

It sent clouds of smoke into the air as the sound of gunfire rang out, Turkish media reported, with the incident quickly denounced by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya as a “terror attack”.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was in Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin, called it a “heinous” attack on Turkey’s defence industry “targeting the survival of our country,” in a message on X.

– Attackers ‘neutralised’ –

Yerlikaya said three of the injured were in critical condition and that the two attackers, “a woman and a man”, had been “neutralised”.

There was no immediate claim for the attack but Yerlikaya said: “The way in which this action was carried out is very probably linked to the PKK.”

He said efforts to identify the perpetrators of the attack were ongoing.

Defence Minister Yasar Guler also pointed the finger at “PKK villains”.

“As they always do, they tried to disturb our nation’s peace through a despicable and dishonourable attack… we will make them suffer for what they have done,” he said.

Turkey’s vice president Cevdet Yilmaz said four of the victims were TAI employees while the fifth was a taxi driver. Media reports earlier said the assailants had killed him and taken his taxi to carry out the attack.

– World leaders condemn attack –

An unconfirmed report by private channel NTV said a “group of terrorists” had burst into the building, one of whom “blew himself up” while other outlets reported exchanges of fire for more than an hour.

Haberturk TV said there was a “hostage situation”, with another media pundit saying “a number of hostages” had been rescued.

Turkish authorities imposed a blackout of live images from the scene.

Sabah newspaper published what it said was a CCTV image from the entrance showing a black-clad young man with a moustache carrying a rucksack and what appeared to be an assault rifle.

As night fell, dozens of ambulances could be seen waiting in convoy near the site, their blue lights flashing.

One of Turkey’s top defence firms and a major arms producer, TAI employs 15,500 people and has a vast production site covering an area of five million square metres, its website says.

The attack drew condemnation from across Turkey and beyond, with Putin offering Erdogan his “condolences in connection with the terror attack” at the start of their meeting.

Statements of condemnation and condolences to the families of the victims also poured in from Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Tehran and Washington and NATO leadership.

– PKK dialogue prospect –

The attack came as Turkey’s political establishment appeared to be leaning towards a political, negotiated solution to the decades-long conflict with the Kurdish militants.

The timing was not lost on the main pro-Kurdish party, Dem, the third largest force in parliament, which said it was “noteworthy that the attack took place just as Turkish society was talking about a solution and the possibility of dialogue”.

It took place a day after the head of the far-right MHP, which belongs to Erdogan’s ruling coalition, invited jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to address parliament to announce his movement’s dissolution.

The PKK has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, claiming tens of thousands of lives, with Ocalan held in solitary confinement on a prison island since 1999.

30 injured in protests calling for Bangladesh president’s resignation

President Mohammed Shahabuddin’s powers are largely ceremonial, but he played a pivotal role at the height of an August student movement that ousted ex-premier Sheikh Hasina.

Shahabuddin announced his one-time ally had quit on the day she fled the country for India, paving the way for the caretaker administration now running the country.

But last week he said in an interview he had not actually seen a written letter from Hasina to that effect, raising the prospect that her resignation was unlawful.

The ceremonial head of state is being accused of loyalty to Hasina and her Awami League

Protesters began gathering outside Shahabuddin’s compound in Dhaka on Tuesday demanding he step down and accusing him of residual loyalty to Hasina and her Awami League party.

“Since the student-led protest toppled the fascist regime, there shouldn’t be a president from that regime,” Faruk Hossain, a student leader at the protest, said.

“He must be replaced by a people’s president.”

Several hundred protesters attempted to break through a security cordon and storm the compound shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

Talebur Rahman, a senior police official, said 25 policemen were injured by protesters.

“Nine are still undergoing treatment. The protesters threw stones and attacked them indiscriminately,” he said.

“The situation is now calm, and there is adequate security in place.”

The protesters dispersed after leaders of Students Against Discrimination, the group credited with sparking the uprising against Hasina, visited the site and pledged to find a replacement for President Shahabuddin.

“We will talk to political parties in front of the military chief on Thursday and then choose someone who will hold office,” student leader Hasnat Abdullah was quoted as saying by the Daily Star newspaper.

His colleague Sarjis Alam told the crowd to remain calm.

“If emotion takes over strategy, the country will suffer,” he added, according to the Daily Star report.

Several top officials seen as Hasina loyalists were purged from their positions after her ouster, including Supreme Court justices and the central bank chief.

Their departures usually followed student-led protests outside their homes or offices.

14 killed as storm batters Philippines

MANILA: Philippine rescuers waded through chest-deep floodwaters on Wednesday to reach residents trapped by Tropical Storm Trami, which has killed 14 people and forced thousands to evacuate as it barrels toward the east coast.

Torrential rain has turned streets into rivers, submerged entire villages and buried some vehicles in volcanic sediment set loose by the downpour.

At least 32,000 people have fled their homes in the northern Philippines, police said, as the storm edges closer to the Southeast Asian country’s main island of Luzon.

In the Bicol region, about 400 kilometres southeast of the capital Manila, “unexpectedly high” flooding was complicating rescue efforts, said police. “We sent police rescue teams but they struggled to enter some areas because the flooding was high and the current was so strong,” regional police spokeswoman Luisa Calubaquib Said.

Eleven people drowned in floodwaters in the Bicol city of Naga, local police chief Erwin Rebellion said. An elderly woman drowned in Quezon province southeast of the capital, while a toddler was also killed after falling into a flooded canal, police said. Manila’s civil defence office reported one person was killed by a falling tree branch.

As of 8pm, the storm’s centre was 150 kilometres east of Luzon’s Isabela province with maximum sustained winds rising to 95 kilometres per hour, the national weather agency said.

It was expected to smash into the coast of Isabela sometime during the night or early Thursday, slightly weakening as it crosses the island and heads out into the South China Sea, the agency added.

More than 500 millimetres of rain, or over a month’s worth, has already fallen on the region in the past 24 hours. Photos on Wednesday showed streets submerged by muddy floodwaters in Camarines Sur province’s Bato municipality, with only the roofs of houses and convenience stores visible. “It’s getting dangerous. We’re waiting for rescuers,” resident Karen Tabagan said.

In Naga, about 40 kilometres from Bato, half of the 600 villages were fully submerged by flooding.

Commonwealth leaders to defy UK on slavery reparations

Commonwealth heads of government are preparing to defy the United Kingdom and agree plans to examine reparatory justice for the transatlantic slave trade.

Downing Street insists the issue is not on the agenda for the summit of 56 Commonwealth countries, which begins in the Pacific island nation of Samoa on Friday.

But diplomatic sources said officials were negotiating an agreement to conduct further research and begin a “meaningful conversation” about an issue which could potentially leave the UK owing billions of pounds in reparations.

Frederick Mitchell, foreign minister of the Bahamas, told the BBC: “Once you broach the subject it may take a while for people to come around but come around they will.”

The current” text of the draft summit communique – made known to the BBC – says: “Heads, noting calls for discussions on reparatory justice with regard to the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel enslavement… agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity.”

It says the heads of government would play “an active role in bringing about such inclusive conversations addressing these harms” and that they agreed “to prioritise and facilitate further and additional research on the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel slavery that encourages and supports the conversations and informs a way forward”.

The text – which could still change once Commonwealth leaders arrive – has been hammered out by diplomats ahead of the summit. British officials succeeded in blocking a plan for an entirely separate declaration on the subject.

The UK did not want any language in the communique about reparatory justice, but at the moment it is having to accept it will include three full paragraphs setting out the Commonwealth’s detailed position.

Reparatory justice for slavery can come in many forms, including financial reparations, debt relief, an official apology, educational programmes, building museums, economic support, and public health assistance.

Officials from Caricom, the body that represents Caribbean countries, have sought to broaden the issue so that it encompasses not just the slave trade across the Atlantic but also the Pacific.

The draft communique says a majority of member states “share common historical experiences in relation to this abhorrent trade, chattel enslavement, the debilitation and dispossession of indigenous people”.

It also refers directly to practices known as “blackbirding”, where Pacific islanders were tricked or kidnapped into slave or cheap labour in colonies throughout the region.

Diplomats said the expectation now was that reparatory justice would be a central focus of the agenda for the next Commonwealth summit in two years’ time in the Caribbean, possibly Antigua and Barbuda.

In the run-up to this year’s summit, there have been growing calls from Commonwealth leaders for the UK to apologise and make reparations worth trillions of pounds for the country’s historic role in the slave trade.

A report published last year by the University of West Indies – backed by Patrick Robinson, a judge who sits on the International Court of Justice – concluded the UK owed more than £18tn in reparations for its role in slavery in 14 Caribbean countries.

Ahead of the Commonwealth meeting, King Charles met locals involved in reforestation efforts on Samoa

Last weekend the prime minister of the Bahamas, Philip Davis, used a visit by Foreign Office minister Baroness Chapman to tell her the fight for reparations was far from over.

According to the Bahamas government website, Mr Davis said: “The call for reparations is not simply about financial compensation. It is not about financial compensation.

“It is about recognising the enduring impact of centuries of exploitation and ensuring that the legacy of slavery is addressed with honesty and integrity.

“As Caribbean nations, we stand united in our demand for justice for generations who came before us and those of us who are still living with that brutal history.”

A UK government spokesperson said they would not comment on the leak to the BBC, but added: “Reparations are not on the agenda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. The government’s position has not changed – we do not pay reparations.

“We are focused on using the summit at [the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting] to discuss the shared opportunities which we can unlock across the Commonwealth – including securing more economic growth.”

It is understood the Downing Street position – that reparatory justice is not on the agenda – while technically correct, has angered some Caribbean ministers when it was obvious that the issue would be discussed at the summit.

It is one of many issues that are not technically on the agenda but will still be addressed and discussed.

Sir Keir Starmer landed in Samoa late on Wednesday UK time, becoming the first sitting prime minister to visit a Pacific island nation.

Speaking to reporters en route, he said he wanted to discuss current challenges with Commonwealth leaders, especially climate change, rather than issues of the past.

“What they’re most interested in is, can we help them working with, for example, international financial institutions on the sorts of packages they need right now in relation to the challenges they’re facing,” he said.

“That’s where I’m going to put my focus – rather than what will end up being very, very long endless discussions about reparations on the past.

“Of course, slavery is abhorrent to everybody; the trade and the practice, there’s no question about that. But I think from my point of view… I’d rather roll up my sleeves and work with them on the current future-facing challenges than spend a lot of time on the past.”

King Charles arrived in Samoa for a four-day visit on Wednesday and is due to formally open the summit.

On a visit to Kenya last year, the King expressed the “greatest sorrow and regret” over the “wrongdoings” of the colonial era, but stopped short of issuing an apology, which would have required the agreement of ministers.

Some non-Caribbean countries are not unsympathetic towards the British position and want the summit to focus more on existing challenges – such as climate change, which is adversely affecting many Commonwealth countries, about half of whom are small island states.

But Caribbean countries seem determined to keep pressing the issue.

All three candidates hoping to be elected this weekend as the next secretary general of the Commonwealth – Shirley Botchwey of Ghana, Joshua Setipa of Lesotho and Mamadou Tangara of Gambia – have made clear they support reparatory justice.

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Profile: Justice Yahya Afridi — Pakistan’s 30th CJP

In line with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s advice, President Asif Ali Zardari has appointed Justice Yahya Afridi for the coveted post of chief justice of Pakistan.

Justice Yahya Afridi, Pakistan’s 30th chief justice, has been named for a fixed term of three years, beginning on October 26, as per a statement issued by the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Wednesday morning.

The statement further mentioned that the appointment was carried out in line with Articles 175A(3), 177, and 179 of the Constitution, and Justice Afridi will take the oath of office on October 26.

Justice Afridi was born in Dera Ismail Khan on 23rd January 1965. He belongs to the Adam Khel section of the Afridi tribe located in the Kohat Frontier Region and is a resident of Village Babari Banda, District Kohat. He belongs to a family steeped in a tradition of public service.

He received his early education at Aitchison College, Lahore. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from Government College Lahore and later obtained his Masters of Arts degree in Economics from Punjab University, Lahore.

After being awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship, Justice Afridi completed his LLM from Jesus College at the University of Cambridge. He was subsequently selected for a scholarship program for Young Commonwealth Lawyers at the Institute of Legal Studies in London.

He started his private practice in Peshawar and lectured at Khyber Law College, University of Peshawar where he taught International Law, Labour Law and Administrative Law.

He was enrolled as an advocate of the High Court in 1990 and as an advocate of the Supreme Court in 2004. He served as an Assistant Advocate General for the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and as a Federal Counsel for the Government of Pakistan while in practice.

Afridi was elevated to the Bench of the Peshawar High Court as Additional Judge in 2010 and was confirmed as a Judge of the Peshawar High Court on 15th March 2012.

Justice Afridi became the first judge from the Federally Administered Tribal Area to assume the office of the Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court when he took oath on 30th December 2016. He served in that office until his elevation as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 28th June 2018.

PM Shehbaz emphasises ‘quick justice’ for people after passage of new law

After the successful legislation of the 26th Constitutional Amendment by both the Senate and National Assembly, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said the legal reforms will ensure quick redressal of people’s cases pending with the judiciary.

“With the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the people will get quick justice from the judicial system,” said the premier, while addressing a meeting with his cabinet — whom he congratulated for the development — in Islamabad on Tuesday.

He added that the establishment of constitutional benches would offer convenience to the common man.

 

 

“A long consultation with the ruling parties and those in the Opposition was held regarding the 26th Constitutional Amendment,” he maintained.

The prime minister’s remarks came after the ruling coalition succeeded in pushing the highly contentious judicial reforms through the parliament via a two-third majority with 225 and 65 votes in the lower and upper house, respectively.

Under the judicial reforms — opposed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which boycotted the voting process — the chief justice of Pakistan will now be selected by a parliamentary committee and have a fixed term of three years. A new constitutional bench will also be formed under the constitutional package.

Following the late-night marathon session in the parliament which began on Sunday evening and ended in the early morning hours on Monday, PM Shehbaz sent an advice to President Zardari to give his assent and sign the legislation into law.

After the president’s assent, the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2024 has now become an Act of the parliament which be followed by the formation of a special parliamentary committee — responsible for the appointment of the new CJP under clause 3 of Article 175A of the Constitution.

Incumbent CJP Qazi Faez Isa, who is set to retire on October 25, will send the names of three senior judges to the committee under sub-clause 3 of Article 175A.

The committee will appoint the next CJP and will send the name to the PM who will then forward it to the president.

In the cabinet meeting today, PM Shehbaz insisted that the constitutional tweaks are the fulfillment of another vision of the Charter of Democracy that was signed by then-Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif on May 14, 2006.

He added that the amendment would be effective towards the development and prosperity of Pakistan.

He also thanked President Asif Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Mualana Fazlur Rehman for their support in ensuring the passege of the legal reforms.

PM Shehbaz also acknowledged the role of his elder brother and party chief Nawaz, who “guided” him in the process.

Highlights of the bill

  • Chief Justice of Pakistan’s (CJP) tenure fixed at three years.
  • Constitutional benches to be established at the SC and high courts.
  • Senior-most judge of each bench to serve as presiding officer.
  • Parliamentary committee to nominate new CJP from panel of three most senior judges.
  • Committee to propose name to PM, who will then forward it to president for final approval.
  • JCP, led by CJP and three others, responsible for appointment of SC judges.
  • JCP to monitor judges’ performance, report any concerns to Supreme Judicial Council.
  • Complete eradication of Riba (interest) from country by January 1, 2028.

MBS, Jordan king discuss Mideast de-escalation

The pair held discussions “related to the security and stability of the region, including efforts made to stop the ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and reduce escalation,” the ministry said in a statement as the Jordanian ruler visited the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The meeting between the two Arab leaders comes amid a US diplomatic push through the region as conflict rages with Israel in both Gaza and Lebanon.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due in Jordan on Wednesday to discuss humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian territory following Tuesday meetings in Israel aimed at progress towards an elusive truce in Gaza.

The royal palace in Jordan said the Saudi and Jordanian leaders emphasised “the need to intensify efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, and to reduce the escalation in the region”.

Saudi Arabia’s official SPA news agency said the two leaders had also voiced their support for the Palestinian and Lebanese people and “would continue to provide humanitarian aid to alleviate their suffering”.

On Monday, US envoy to Lebanon Amos Hochstein said Washington was seeking an end to the war in Lebanon “as soon as possible” as he pushed for a ceasefire in Beirut.

After over a year of conflict against Hamas in the Palestinian territory of Gaza, Israel shifted its focus to Hezbollah in Lebanon in September, ramping up strikes on the group’s strongholds around the country and sending in ground troops at the end of last month.

Iran, S. Arabia plan exercises

Iran and Saudi Arabia are planning to conduct joint military exercises in the Red Sea, according to an Iranian report not confirmed by Riyadh, in what would be a first for the regional heavyweights.

The two Middle East rivals, which have long bac­ked opposing sides in con­flict zones across the region, severed diplomatic ties in 2016. However Iran and Saudi Arabia resumed relations last year under a surprise China-brokered deal.

“Saudi Arabia has asked that we organise joint exercises in the Red Sea,” the commander of Iran’s navy, Admiral Shahram Irani, was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency ISNA.

Xi, Putin hail ‘exemplary’ friendship amid global chaos

“At present, the world is going through changes unseen in a hundred years, the international situation is intertwined with chaos,” Xi told Putin in the Russian city of Kazan at the opening of the Brics summit, on Tuesday.

“But I firmly believe that the friendship between China and Russia will continue for generations, and great countries responsibility to their people will not change.”

Putin called Xi “dear friend” and said the partnership with China was a force for stability in the world. “Russian-Chinese cooperation in world affairs is one of the main stabilising factors on the world stage”.

Brics summit begins; UN chief expected to meet Russian president tomorrow

“We intend to further enhance coordination on all multilateral platforms in order to ensure global security and a just world order.

 

Xi said cooperation in the Brics group was “the most important platform for solidarity and cooperation between emerging market countries and developing countries in the world today.”

He said it was “a mainstay force in promoting the realization of equal and orderly global multipolarity, as well as inclusive and tolerant economic globalisation.”

The two leaders also discussed the conflict in Ukraine behind closed doors, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state media, while providing no details. “There was an exchange of opinions on Ukraine,” he said, adding that in general, on the international agenda, there was a significant convergence of positions.

Ukraine has heavily criticised China for backing Putin, accusing Beijing of supporting and enabling Moscow’s offensive.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry also slammed the planned meeting of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres with Putin on Thursday. Guterres’s deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters Tuesday the UN chief planned to meet with a “large number” of the leaders in Kazan.

Asked about talks with Putin, he said Guterres would “reaffirm his well-known positions” on the Ukraine conflict and outline “the conditions for just peace”.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has also urged an end to the conflict, praised Moscow as a “valued ally” and friend in his meeting with Putin.

“We continue to see Russia as a valued ally, as a valued friend, who supported us right from the beginning: from the days of our struggle against Apartheid, right through to now,” Ramaphosa said.

In a series of bilateral talks on Tuesday, including with Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin hailed Moscow’s close ties and “strategic partnerships” with its chosen partners, though concerns over Ukraine offensive loomed over the event.

Modi, who is casting himself as a possible peacemaker, called for a quick end to the conflict during televised talks with Putin. “We have been in constant touch over the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” Modi told Putin after the two shook hands and embraced.

“We believe that disputes should only be resolved peacefully. We totally support efforts to quickly restore peace and stability,” he added.

Separate talks between Putin and his Turkish counterpart and Iranian counterparts are planned for Wednesday.

Among the topics on the official agenda will be the escalating conflict in the

Middle East as well as Putin’s idea for a Brics-led payment system to rival SWIFT, an international financial network that Russian banks were cut off from in

  1. The United States has dismissed the idea that Brics could become a “geopolitical rival”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has sought to play down the significance of alleged interference by the Labour Party in the American presidential election.

The Trump Campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in Washington seeking an immediate investigation – after the Head of Operations for the Labour Party, Sofia Patel, posted on social media that she had “ten spots available” for anyone willing to travel to North Carolina to campaign for Kamala Harris, adding “we will sort your housing”.

She said she had around 100 current and former party staff heading to America before polling day.

The post, on LinkedIn, has since been deleted.

Foreign nationals are permitted to serve as volunteers on campaigns in the US as long as they are not compensated, according to Federal Election Commission rules.

The complaint from the Trump Campaign is both pointed and theatrical.

“When representatives of the British government previously sought to go door-to-door in America, it did not end well for them,” it read.

That is a matter-of-fact reference to US independence around 250 years ago.

On matters more contemporary it requests “an immediate investigation” into what it calls “blatant foreign interference”.

Speaking to reporters while flying to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Samoa in the south Pacific, the prime minister said: “The Labour Party has volunteers, [they] have gone over pretty much every election.

“They’re doing it in their spare time. They’re doing it as volunteers. They’re staying I think with other volunteers over there.”

The Trump Campaign letter to the Federal Election Commission also says: “Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, and Matthew Doyle, director of communications, attended the (Democratic) convention in Chicago and met with Ms Harris’ campaign team.

“Deborah Mattinson, Sir Keir’s director of strategy, also went to Washington in September to brief Ms Harris’ presidential campaign on Labour’s election-winning approach.”

Ms Mattinson no longer works for the Labour Party.

Party sources say Mr Doyle and Mr McSweeney went to the Democratic Convention in their own time, and that the Democratic Party didn’t pay their travel and accommodation costs.

It isn’t clear who did.

Asked if the row risked jeopardising his relationship with Donald Trump, the prime minister said “no” – pointing to the dinner the two men had together at Trump Tower in New York last month.

“We established a good relationship. We’re grateful for him for making the time… for that dinner,” Sir Keir said.

“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.”

Sir Keir has never met the Vice-President Harris, Trump’s Democratic rival.

But he has met President Biden several times since becoming prime minister in July.

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