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Historical racism has come back to British the political arena, which makes people feel very scared, the Prime Minister warned, cautioning that divisive hard-right politics are “splitting the UK”.

Addressing Racist Language and Harmful Strategies

In conversation with GP and TV personality Amir Khan, the prime minister accused the Reform UK party for enabling the revival to racist and divisive political discourse that seemed a thing of the past decades ago”.

During the discussion, broadcast on ITV’s Lorraine show this week, Starmer also gave his strongest signal suggesting the limit on child benefits could be removed during the upcoming fiscal announcement in the coming weeks.

Promise to Reduce Poverty Among Children

When questioned if he planned to eliminate the limit, as noted by advocacy groups is the biggest driver of child poverty across Britain, the Prime Minister said: “Let me be perfectly clear I will strive to drive child poverty down.”

He outlined steps ministers have already introduced including free school meals, morning meal programs, and childcare and emphasized: “Further action is necessary, and I pledge and tell you I am dedicated to cutting childhood poverty.”

When pressed on whether his comments indicated he would lift the two-child cap, he stated “It would be misleading to claim we aim to lower poverty among children if I wasn’t clear that we will implement several steps in order to do so”.

Clear Signals from the Chancellor

Rachel Reeves, provided a similarly clear signal on Monday when she told a national radio station that “in the end, no child should suffer because their parents don’t have very much money”.

Ministers are reportedly planning to remove the cap completely, after initially considering gradual removal for bigger households or wealthier families. An economic thinktank has estimated the expense would be roughly £3.5 billion in the coming years.

Political Divide and Country’s Revival

During the discussion, Starmer explained the political divide in the UK now existed between Labour’s “patriotic national renewal” versus Reform’s harmful divisiveness and other right-wing groups that are “tearing our country apart”.

“Some of the rhetoric we’re hearing – discriminatory talk, divisive rhetoric – that frankly I thought we had dealt with in the past is returning to politics and it makes people feel deeply afraid,” he stated.

“We must confront to that racism, that division, and declare confidently that to be British means showing empathy, requires rationality, entails tolerance and compassionate, which we value deeply.”

Echoing Concerns from the Health Secretary

The prime minister echoed language expressed by the Health Secretary, who warned earlier this month how a disturbing form of discrimination similar to past decades was now worryingly commonplace once more and that healthcare workers were primary targets of this trend.

The health secretary noted occurrences of verbal and physical abuse targeting individuals due to race now happened so often making it “tolerated to hold racist views”.

“It is time to put a stop on racism across the UK and we’ve got to put that ugly racist sentiment that’s found expression in our country back in its box and once again create an environment in this country where racism is unacceptable to be racist,” Streeting said.

Critical Decision for Voters

The Prime Minister used his speech during a major political gathering in September to draw clear divisions between himself and Farage, stating that the public faced a pivotal moment.

The prime minister said he was involved in a struggle for the nation’s identity, and argued although voters expressed valid worries about illegal migration, there was an ethical boundary that Farage and others had overstepped.

Starmer pledged to challenge those who argued that non-white individuals could not be English or British and that families who had lived in the UK for generations should be deported, saying people promoting such views constituted “against national unity”.

“Encouraging racist violence and hostility, that is not expressing concern: it is illegal. This party – this great party – values national symbols, yet if they are painted alongside graffiti, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to ‘go home’, that is not patriotism; that’s racism,” he informed supporters.