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Long-standing racial prejudice is resurfacing to UK politics, which makes people feel very scared, the Prime Minister emphasized, alerting that polarizing hard-right political tactics are “splitting the UK”.

Tackling Racist Language and Divisive Politics

Speaking to doctor and media figure Amir Khan, the prime minister pointed to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK for enabling a return of discriminatory and divisive political discourse “that frankly I thought we had dealt with long ago”.

In the interview, which aired on a popular morning program this week, Starmer also gave a clear indication suggesting the limit on child benefits could be removed in the budget in the coming weeks.

Promise to Combat Poverty Among Children

When questioned whether he planned to eliminate the limit, which charities have said is a major cause of child poverty in the UK, the Prime Minister responded: “Let me be perfectly clear I will strive to drive child poverty down.”

He outlined measures ministers have already introduced such as free school meals, morning meal programs, and childcare and emphasized: “We need to do more than that, and I assure you and tell you I will personally focus to cutting child poverty.”

When pressed about if his comments meant he intended to remove the two-child cap, Starmer said he “wouldn’t be telling you we aim to lower poverty among children without being sure that we will implement various actions to achieve this”.

Clear Indications from Rachel Reeves

Rachel Reeves, provided a similarly clear signal on Monday stating to a national radio station that finally, no child should suffer if their parents are struggling financially”.

Ministers are understood to be preparing to scrap the restriction fully, after initially considering phasing it out either for very large families or wealthier families. An economic thinktank has estimated the expense would be about £3.5bn in the coming years.

Political Divide and Country’s Revival

During the discussion, the Prime Minister said the political divide currently in Britain existed between the government’s vision for renewal versus “the toxic division of Reform” and other right-wing groups that are “dividing the nation”.

“Certain language being used – discriminatory talk, polarizing language – that frankly I thought we had dealt with decades ago is coming back into politics and it makes people feel very scared,” he said.

“We have to stand up to that racism, that division, and we have to proudly say that to be British is to have concern for others, is about being fair, is to be tolerant and compassionate, and we’re proud of that.”

Echoing Warnings from Wes Streeting

Starmer echoed language expressed by the Health Secretary, who warned recently how a disturbing form of discrimination reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s had become alarmingly frequent once more and that healthcare workers were primary targets of this trend.

Streeting noted occurrences of verbal and physical abuse targeting individuals due to race had become so frequent making it “acceptable to express racism”.

“We’ve got to call time on racism in this country and we’ve got to put such harmful attitudes that has emerged nationally back in its box and reestablish an environment across Britain where it is not socially acceptable to hold racist views,” Streeting said.

Defining Choice for the Public

Starmer used his speech at the Labour party conference this autumn to outline political battle lines between himself and Farage, stating that the public confronted a “defining choice”.

He explained he was engaged in a struggle for the nation’s identity, and argued that while voters expressed valid worries about illegal migration, there was “a moral line” which some politicians had overstepped.

Starmer pledged to “fight” anyone who argued that non-white individuals did not belong and that families residing in the UK for generations should be deported, stating those advocating these ideas constituted “an enemy of national renewal”.

“If you incite racial attacks and hatred, that goes beyond concern: it is illegal. Our political movement is proud of our flags, but if they are displayed with hateful messages, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to leave the country, that is not patriotism; that is pure discrimination,” he told supporters.