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Long-standing racial prejudice is returning to British the political arena, and it makes people feel deeply uneasy, the Prime Minister warned, alerting that polarizing far-right political tactics are “tearing our country apart”.

Addressing Racist Rhetoric and Divisive Strategies

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

In the interview, which aired on a popular morning program on Tuesday, Starmer also gave a clear indication suggesting the two-child benefit cap could be removed during the upcoming fiscal announcement later this month.

Promise to Reduce Child Poverty

When questioned whether he would scrap this restriction, as noted by advocacy groups is the biggest driver of poverty for children in the UK, Starmer responded: “I want to state unequivocally I am determined to drive child poverty down.”

He outlined steps ministers have already introduced such as no-cost school lunches, morning meal programs, and childcare but added: “We need to do more than that, and I can look you in the eye and tell you I am dedicated to cutting child poverty.”

When pressed on whether his remarks meant he would lift the two-child limit, Starmer said “It would be misleading to claim we aim to lower poverty among children without being sure that we will implement several steps in order to do so”.

Clear Signals from the Chancellor

The Chancellor, gave a similarly clear signal on Monday stating to BBC Radio 5 Live that “in the end, a child should not be penalised if their parents are struggling financially”.

Ministers are getting ready to lift the limit entirely, having originally looked at gradual removal for bigger households or wealthier families. An economic thinktank has estimated this would cost 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 existed between Labour’s “patriotic national renewal” and Reform’s harmful divisiveness and other right-wing groups that are “tearing our country apart”.

“Some of the rhetoric currently circulating – racist rhetoric, divisive rhetoric – that frankly I thought was resolved in the past is coming back into politics leaving people very scared,” he stated.

“We have to stand up such discrimination, that division, and affirm with pride that British identity involves caring for others, is to be reasonable, entails tolerance and compassionate, which we value deeply.”

Reflecting Concerns from the Health Secretary

The prime minister echoed sentiments used by Wes Streeting, who warned recently how a disturbing form of discrimination similar to the 1970s and 1980s had become worryingly commonplace once more and that healthcare workers were facing the worst of this trend.

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

“We must end to discrimination across the UK and we need to place such harmful attitudes that has emerged nationally where it belongs and once again create a climate across Britain where it is not socially acceptable to hold racist views,” the Health Secretary said.

Critical Decision for Voters

The Prime Minister used his speech at the Labour party conference in September to draw clear divisions between himself and Farage, saying that the public faced a pivotal moment.

He said he was involved in a “fight for the soul of our country”, and argued although voters expressed valid worries regarding unauthorized immigration, there was an ethical boundary that Farage and others had overstepped.

Starmer vowed to “fight” those who argued that people who were not white did not belong and that households residing in the UK for generations must be removed, saying those advocating these ideas were “opposed to the country’s progress”.

“If you incite racial attacks and hostility, that goes beyond concern: it is illegal. This party – this great party – values national symbols, but if they are displayed alongside graffiti, targeting a business owner to leave the country, that is not patriotism; that’s racism,” he told supporters.