ENVIRONMENT Secretary Steve Reed has denied that the Labour Party is interfering in the US presidential election campaign by calling for officials to go and assist the Democrats.

He also said he did not know that a telecoms company that provided him with nearly £2,000 worth of free football tickets was the majority shareholder of Northumbrian Water.

Reed said on GB News: “It’s certainly not unusual for Mr Trump to use colourful language in this election campaign but, frankly, it’s up to private individuals to choose what they do with their own free time and their own money.

“It’s not unusual for supporters of a political party in one country to go and campaign for a sister party in another country. It happens always…I’ve seen Americans here campaigning in our election for our parties as well.

“That is all this story is about. The Labour Party itself has nothing to do with organising people to go and campaign for the Democrats.

“It is individuals choosing to do what they want with their own free time, as is their right.”

He also said he had no idea that football tickets he accepted were from a firm with ties to Northumbrian Water: “I would hardly be taking the toughest action against water company and water company bosses of any Secretary of State in history, if I had been in any way influenced by a telecom company offering me a pair of football tickets.

“I wasn’t. And you can judge me by what I’m doing in Parliament and the reform I’m leading in the water sector. You’ve not seen that from any previous Environment Secretary ever.”

He added: “I’ve launched a commission today to completely reset the sector. So ,I say it again, your facts and your inference are wrong. I’m going to get on and I’m going to clean up our rivers, lakes and sea and up seas from pollution.

“I’m going to reset this sector so it works for the customers and for the environment in a way that it has not done going back decades. I will do that without fear or favour from anyone.”