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Long-standing racism has come back to UK the political arena, which leaves citizens fearful, Keir Starmer has stated, cautioning that divisive far-right politics are “dividing the nation”.

Tackling Discriminatory Language and Harmful Politics

In conversation to GP and TV personality Amir Khan, Starmer accused the Reform UK party for enabling a return to discriminatory and divisive political discourse “that frankly I thought we had dealt with decades ago”.

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

Promise to Combat Child Poverty

Asked if he planned to eliminate this restriction, which charities have said is a major cause of child poverty in the UK, the Prime Minister said: “Let me be perfectly clear I am determined to drive child poverty down.”

He listed measures ministers have already introduced such as free school meals, breakfast clubs, and childcare and emphasized: “Further action is necessary, and I assure you that I am personally committed to driving down child poverty.”

Pressed on whether his remarks meant he would lift the two-child cap, Starmer stated he “wouldn’t be telling you we plan to reduce poverty among children if I wasn’t clear that measures will be introduced various actions to achieve this”.

Clear Signals from the Chancellor

Rachel Reeves, gave a similarly clear signal earlier this week stating to a national radio station how ultimately, no child should suffer because their parents don’t have very much money”.

Ministers are reportedly planning to lift the limit entirely, having originally looked at ways to taper it for bigger households or richer ones. An economic thinktank has estimated the expense would be roughly £3.5 billion by the end of the decade.

Ideological Split and Country’s Revival

In the interview, the Prime Minister explained the ideological split currently in Britain existed between the government’s vision for renewal and “the toxic division of Reform” and other right-wing groups that are “tearing our country apart”.

“Certain language currently circulating – racist rhetoric, divisive rhetoric – that many assumed was resolved in the past 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 declare confidently that British identity involves caring for others, is about being fair, is to be tolerant and kindness, which we value deeply.”

Reflecting Warnings from the Health Secretary

Starmer echoed sentiments expressed by the Health Secretary, who cautioned earlier this month how a disturbing form of discrimination reminiscent of past decades was now alarmingly frequent again and that healthcare workers were facing the worst of it.

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

“We’ve got to call time to discrimination across the UK and we need to place such harmful attitudes that has emerged nationally where it belongs and once again create an environment in this country where it is not socially acceptable to be racist,” the Health Secretary said.

Critical Decision for the Public

The Prime Minister used his speech during a major political gathering in September to draw clear divisions between himself and Farage, saying that voters confronted a crucial decision.

The prime minister explained he was involved in a “fight for the soul of our country”, and argued that while voters had “reasonable” concerns about illegal migration, there was “a moral line” that Farage and others had overstepped.

The PM vowed to confront anyone claiming that people who were not white were not truly British and that households residing in Britain for years should be deported, stating people promoting such views constituted “an enemy of national renewal”.

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