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Decades-old racial prejudice is returning within UK politics, which makes people feel deeply uneasy, Keir Starmer warned, alerting that divisive far-right politics are “tearing our country apart”.

Confronting Racist Rhetoric and Harmful Politics

In conversation to doctor and media figure Amir Khan, Starmer pointed to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK for enabling a return to racist and divisive political discourse which many believed was resolved years back”.

In the interview, which aired on ITV’s Lorraine show on Tuesday, the PM also gave his strongest signal suggesting the two-child benefit cap would be lifted in the budget later this month.

Commitment to Combat Poverty Among Children

When questioned whether he planned to eliminate this restriction, as noted by advocacy groups is a major cause of poverty for children across Britain, the Prime Minister responded: “I can tell you in no uncertain terms I am determined to lower poverty rates for kids.”

He listed measures the government has already launched including no-cost school lunches, breakfast clubs, and childcare but added: “We need to do more than that, and I assure you that I am personally committed to driving down child poverty.”

Pressed on whether his remarks indicated he intended to remove the two-child limit, he said “I would not say we are going to drive down child poverty without being sure that measures will be introduced a number of measures to achieve this”.

Strong Signals from Rachel Reeves

The Chancellor, gave a similarly clear signal on Monday stating to a national radio station that finally, a child should not be penalised because their parents don’t have very much money”.

Government officials are reportedly planning to remove the cap completely, after initially considering ways to taper it for bigger households or richer ones. An economic thinktank projects the expense would be roughly £3.5 billion by 2029-30.

Political Divide and Country’s Revival

In the interview, Starmer explained the ideological split currently in Britain was between the government’s vision for renewal versus Reform’s harmful divisiveness and others on the right who were “dividing the nation”.

“Parts of the discourse currently circulating – racist rhetoric, divisive rhetoric – that many assumed was resolved long ago is coming back into politics leaving people fearful,” he said.

“We must confront such discrimination, that division, and we have to proudly say that to be British means showing empathy, requires rationality, entails tolerance and kindness, which we value deeply.”

Echoing Concerns from Wes Streeting

Starmer echoed sentiments expressed by Wes Streeting, who cautioned earlier this month that an “ugly” racism similar to the 1970s and 1980s had become alarmingly frequent once more with healthcare workers were primary targets of it.

The health secretary noted occurrences of both verbal and physical attacks targeting individuals due to race now happened so often making it “acceptable to express racism”.

“We must end to discrimination in this country and we need to place that ugly racist sentiment that’s found expression in our country back in its box and once again create an environment across Britain where racism is unacceptable to be racist,” Streeting stated.

Defining Choice for the Public

The Prime Minister spoke during a major political gathering this autumn to draw clear divisions between himself and Farage, stating that voters confronted a “defining choice”.

He said he was engaged in a “fight for the soul of our country”, noting that while voters had “reasonable” concerns regarding unauthorized immigration, existed an ethical boundary that Farage and others had overstepped.

Starmer pledged to challenge those claiming that people who were not white did not belong and that families residing in Britain for years should be deported, stating those advocating these ideas constituted “opposed to the country’s progress”.

“Encouraging racist violence and hatred, that goes beyond concern: it is illegal. This party – this great party – values national symbols, 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 informed supporters.