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Long-standing racial prejudice is resurfacing to UK the political arena, and it leaves citizens fearful, Keir Starmer warned, cautioning that divisive far-right politics was “tearing our country apart”.

Confronting Racist Rhetoric and Harmful Strategies

Speaking to doctor and media figure Amir Khan, Starmer accused the Reform UK party for enabling a return of racist and divisive political discourse “that frankly I thought we had dealt with long ago”.

In the interview, which aired on ITV’s Lorraine show on Tuesday, Starmer also gave a clear indication suggesting the two-child benefit cap would be lifted during the upcoming fiscal announcement later this month.

Promise to Reduce Poverty Among Children

Asked whether he would scrap this restriction, as noted by advocacy groups is a major cause of poverty for children 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 outlined steps the government has already launched such as free school meals, breakfast clubs, and childcare and emphasized: “We must go beyond these efforts, and I pledge that I will personally focus to driving down childhood poverty.”

When pressed about if his comments meant he intended to remove the two-child cap, Starmer stated “It would be misleading to claim we are going to drive down poverty among children without being sure that we will be taking various actions to achieve this”.

Clear Signals from Rachel Reeves

Rachel Reeves, gave a similarly clear signal on Monday when she told BBC Radio 5 Live how “in the end, children must not be punished if their parents are struggling financially”.

Government officials are reportedly planning to remove the cap completely, after initially considering gradual removal either for very large families or richer ones. An economic thinktank projects this would cost roughly £3.5 billion by 2029-30.

Political Divide and Country’s Revival

During the discussion, the Prime Minister explained the political divide in the UK now was between Labour’s “patriotic national renewal” and “the toxic division of Reform” and others on the right who were “tearing our country apart”.

“Some of the rhetoric being used – discriminatory talk, polarizing language – which I believed had been addressed in the past is coming back into politics leaving people deeply afraid,” he said.

“It is essential to oppose to that racism, that divisiveness, and we have to proudly say that to be British involves caring for others, is to be reasonable, entails tolerance and compassionate, and this is our pride.”

Echoing Warnings from Wes Streeting

Starmer echoed sentiments used by Wes Streeting, who cautioned earlier this month how an “ugly” racism reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s had become worryingly commonplace once more and that healthcare workers were primary targets of this trend.

Streeting said occurrences of verbal and physical abuse based on people’s skin colour now happened so often making it “acceptable to express racism”.

“We must end to discrimination across the UK and we’ve got to put that ugly racist sentiment that has emerged in our country back in its box and reestablish an environment in this country that rejects racism to be racist,” the Health Secretary stated.

Defining Choice for the Public

The Prime Minister spoke at the Labour party conference in September to draw clear divisions with his political opponents, stating that the public confronted a “defining choice”.

He explained he was involved in a “fight for the soul of our country”, noting although voters expressed valid worries about illegal migration, existed an ethical boundary that Farage and others had overstepped.

Starmer pledged to confront anyone who argued that people who were not white were not truly British and that households residing in the UK for generations should be deported, stating those advocating these ideas constituted “an enemy of national renewal”.

“Encouraging racial attacks and hostility, that goes beyond concern: it’s criminal. Our political movement is proud of our flags, yet if they are painted with hateful messages, targeting a business owner to ‘go home’, that is not patriotism; that is pure discrimination,” he told activists.