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Decades-old racism is resurfacing within UK politics, and it makes people feel deeply uneasy, Keir Starmer has stated, cautioning that divisive hard-right politics are “splitting the UK”.

Confronting Discriminatory Rhetoric and Harmful Politics

Speaking with doctor and media figure Amir Khan, Starmer accused Nigel Farage’s Reform UK of overseeing a return to discriminatory and divisive political discourse that seemed a thing of the past decades ago”.

In the interview, broadcast on a popular morning program on Tuesday, the PM also gave a clear indication suggesting the limit on child benefits could be removed during the upcoming fiscal announcement later this month.

Promise to Combat Poverty Among Children

Asked whether he planned to eliminate the limit, which charities have said is the biggest driver of child poverty across Britain, Starmer said: “I want to state unequivocally I will strive to lower poverty rates for kids.”

He listed steps the government has already launched including no-cost school lunches, morning meal programs, and child care support and emphasized: “Further action is necessary, and I can look you in the eye and tell you I am dedicated to driving down child poverty.”

Pressed about if his comments meant he would lift the two-child limit, he said he “wouldn’t be telling you we aim to lower poverty among children if I wasn’t clear that we will implement several steps for that purpose”.

Strong Signals from Rachel Reeves

Rachel Reeves, gave an equally strong hint earlier this week stating to a national radio station how “in the end, a child should not be penalised because their parents don’t have very much money”.

Government officials are understood to be preparing to remove the cap completely, having originally looked at ways to taper it either for very large families or richer ones. An economic thinktank has estimated the expense would be roughly £3.5 billion by 2029-30.

Political Divide and Country’s Revival

In the interview, the Prime Minister explained the political divide in the UK now was between the government’s vision for renewal and “the toxic division of Reform” and others on the right that are “splitting the UK”.

“Parts of the discourse being used – discriminatory talk, polarizing language – that many assumed we had dealt with in the past has reemerged in political debate and citizens are fearful,” he said.

“It is essential to oppose such discrimination, that division, and declare confidently that to be British means showing empathy, is to be reasonable, is to be tolerant and kindness, and we’re proud of that.”

Reflecting Concerns from Wes Streeting

Starmer echoed sentiments used by the Health Secretary, who cautioned earlier this month how an “ugly” racism similar to the 1970s and 1980s was now alarmingly frequent again with NHS staff were facing the worst of it.

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

“We’ve got to call time to discrimination in this country and we’ve got to put such harmful attitudes that has emerged in our country back in its box and reestablish an environment in this country that rejects racism to be racist,” the Health Secretary said.

Defining Choice for the Public

The Prime Minister spoke at the Labour party conference in September to outline clear divisions with his political opponents, stating that voters faced a crucial decision.

The prime minister 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 crossed.

Starmer pledged to confront those claiming that non-white individuals were not truly British and that families residing in Britain for years should be deported, saying people promoting such views constituted “opposed to the country’s progress”.

“Encouraging racist violence and hatred, that goes beyond concern: it’s criminal. This party – this great party – values national symbols, but if they are displayed with hateful messages, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to ‘go home’, that’s not pride; that’s racism,” he informed activists.