Donald Trump begging for campaign funds through emails: British MPs

LONDON: Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been accused of "begging" for campaign cash in emails received by a number of British MPs.

The emails, seemingly from Trump's son, accuse "Crooked Hillary" of "fraud and lies" and ask recipients to "please donate right now to help my father Make America Great Again".

Conservative MP Roger Gale yesterday appealed to the Speaker of the House of Commons: "Members of Parliament are being bombarded by electronic communications from Team Trump on behalf of somebody called Donald Trump.

"Mr Speaker, I'm all in favour of free speech but I don't see why colleagues on either side of the House should be subjected to intemperate spam. Efforts to try to have these deleted have failed. I wonder if you'd be kind enough to intercede with the Digital Services Department to see if they may be blocked."

Describing the experience as "irritating" and "tedious", the Speaker responded: "I do not think it is acceptable that Members should be bombarded with emails the content of which is offensive. I will ensure that members of the Parliamentary Digital Service, who have the facility to block certain types of email, are made aware of this issue."

Glasgow East MP Natalie McGarry decided to reply directly to Trump's 38-year-old son Donald J Trump Jr.

"Quite why you think it appropriate to write emails to UK parliamentarians with a begging bowl for your father's repugnant campaign is beyond me," she wrote.

"Given his rhetoric on migrants, refugees and immigration, it seems quite extraordinary that he would be asking foreign nationals for money; especially people who view his dangerous divisiveness with horror," she added.

In one of the spam emails, Trump reportedly pledges to personally match every dollar donated in a 48 hour period, making it the "most successful introductory fundraising email in modern political history".

MPs in Iceland and Australia have also reportedly received similar appeals. However, it remains unclear whether the "Trump" email was real or fake.