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Decades-old racism has come back to UK politics, which leaves citizens fearful, the Prime Minister warned, alerting how polarizing far-right politics are “dividing the nation”.

Confronting Discriminatory Rhetoric and Harmful Strategies

In conversation with doctor and media figure Amir Khan, Starmer accused Nigel Farage’s Reform UK of overseeing a return to racist and divisive politics that seemed a thing of the past long ago”.

In the interview, which aired on ITV’s Lorraine show on Tuesday, Starmer also gave a clear indication suggesting the limit on child benefits would be lifted in the budget later this month.

Promise to Reduce Child Poverty

When questioned whether he planned to eliminate the limit, which charities have said is the biggest driver of child poverty in the UK, the Prime Minister said: “I can tell you in no uncertain terms I will strive to lower poverty rates for kids.”

He listed steps ministers have already introduced including free school meals, morning meal programs, and childcare but added: “We must go beyond these efforts, and I can look you in the eye and tell you I am personally committed on reducing childhood poverty.”

Pressed about if his remarks meant he intended to remove the two-child limit, Starmer said “It would be misleading to claim we plan to reduce poverty among children if I wasn’t clear that we will be taking several steps to achieve this”.

Clear Signals from Rachel Reeves

The Chancellor, gave an equally strong hint on Monday when she told BBC Radio 5 Live how “in the end, a child should not be penalised due to their family’s financial situation”.

Ministers are understood to be preparing to remove the cap completely, having originally looked at phasing it out either for very large families or wealthier families. The Resolution Foundation projects the expense would be about £3.5bn by 2029-30.

Ideological Split and National Renewal

In the interview, the Prime Minister said the political divide in the UK now was between the government’s vision for renewal versus Reform’s harmful divisiveness and other right-wing groups that are “dividing the nation”.

“Some of the rhetoric being used – discriminatory talk, polarizing language – that many assumed was resolved long ago is returning to politics leaving people deeply afraid,” he said.

“It is essential to oppose to that racism, that division, and declare confidently that to be British means showing empathy, is about being fair, is to be tolerant and kindness, which we value deeply.”

Echoing Warnings from Wes Streeting

Starmer echoed sentiments used by the Health Secretary, who warned earlier this month that an “ugly” racism reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s had become worryingly commonplace again and that NHS staff were bearing the brunt of this trend.

Streeting said incidents of verbal and physical abuse targeting individuals due to race had become so frequent that it was now “acceptable to express racism”.

“It is time to put a stop on racism across the UK and we’ve got to put such harmful attitudes that’s found expression in our country back in its box and reestablish a climate in this country where racism is unacceptable to be racist,” Streeting said.

Critical Decision for the Public

Starmer spoke at the Labour party conference in September to outline political battle lines between himself and Farage, stating that the public confronted a pivotal moment.

He explained he was involved in a “fight for the soul of our country”, and argued that while voters had “reasonable” concerns about illegal migration, existed an ethical boundary which some politicians had overstepped.

The PM pledged to “fight” those who argued that people who were not white could not be English or British and that families who had lived in the UK for generations must be removed, stating those advocating these ideas constituted “against national unity”.

“Encouraging racial attacks and hatred, that is not expressing concern: it is illegal. This party – this great party – values national symbols, yet if they are painted with hateful messages, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to ‘go home’, that’s not pride; that’s racism,” he told activists.