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Historical racial prejudice is returning within British politics, which makes people feel deeply uneasy, Keir Starmer warned, alerting how divisive far-right politics was “dividing the nation”.

Addressing Racist Rhetoric and Divisive Politics

Speaking with GP and TV personality a well-known TV doctor, the prime minister accused the Reform UK party of overseeing the revival of racist and divisive politics that seemed a thing of the past long ago”.

During the discussion, which aired on ITV’s Lorraine show this week, Starmer provided a clear indication that the two-child benefit cap would be lifted in the budget in the coming weeks.

Commitment to Reduce Poverty Among Children

Asked if he planned to eliminate the limit, as noted by advocacy groups is the biggest driver of poverty for children in the UK, the Prime Minister said: “I can tell you in no uncertain terms I am committed to lower poverty rates for kids.”

He listed steps the government has already launched including no-cost school lunches, breakfast clubs, and childcare and emphasized: “We need to do more than that, and I pledge and tell you I am personally committed on reducing childhood poverty.”

Pressed about if his remarks indicated he would lift the two-child limit, Starmer said “It would be misleading to claim we are going to drive down child poverty unless I was certain that measures will be introduced a number of measures to achieve this”.

Strong Signals from the Chancellor

Rachel Reeves, provided an equally strong hint earlier this week when she told BBC Radio 5 Live how “in the end, a child should not be penalised due to their family’s financial situation”.

Government officials are getting ready to remove the cap completely, after initially considering phasing it out either for very large families or richer ones. An economic thinktank projects the expense would be roughly £3.5 billion in the coming years.

Ideological Split and National Renewal

During the discussion, Starmer said the ideological split currently in Britain existed between the government’s vision for renewal and Reform’s harmful divisiveness and other right-wing groups that are “tearing our country apart”.

“Parts of the discourse being used – racist rhetoric, divisive rhetoric – that many assumed we had dealt with long ago is returning to politics and it makes people feel very scared,” he said.

“It is essential to oppose to that racism, that division, and we have to proudly say that British identity means showing empathy, is to be reasonable, is to be tolerant and kindness, and this is our pride.”

Echoing Concerns from Wes Streeting

Starmer mirrored language used by Wes Streeting, who cautioned earlier this month how an “ugly” racism similar to the 1970s and 1980s was now worryingly commonplace again and that healthcare workers were facing the worst of it.

The health secretary noted incidents of both verbal and physical attacks targeting individuals due to race had become so frequent making it “tolerated to hold racist views”.

“We must end to discrimination in this country and we need to place that ugly racist sentiment that’s found expression in our country where it belongs and reestablish a climate in this country where racism is unacceptable to be racist,” the Health Secretary stated.

Defining Choice for Voters

Starmer used his speech at the Labour party conference this autumn to outline clear divisions with his political opponents, saying that the public confronted a “defining choice”.

The prime minister said he was involved in a struggle for the nation’s identity, and argued that while the public had “reasonable” concerns regarding unauthorized immigration, existed “a moral line” that Farage and others had overstepped.

The PM pledged to “fight” anyone who argued that non-white individuals were not truly British and that families residing in the UK for generations must be removed, saying people promoting such views constituted “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, yet if they are painted alongside graffiti, targeting a business owner to leave the country, that’s not pride; that is pure discrimination,” he informed supporters.