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Decades-old racism has come back to UK the political arena, which creates fearful, Keir Starmer has stated, alerting that divisive hard-right political tactics are “dividing the nation”.

Tackling Discriminatory Language and Harmful Politics

Speaking with GP and TV personality 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 long ago”.

In the interview, which aired on a popular morning program on Tuesday, Starmer provided his strongest signal suggesting the two-child benefit cap would be lifted in the budget later this month.

Commitment to Combat Poverty Among Children

Asked if he would scrap the limit, as noted by advocacy groups is a major cause of poverty for children in the UK, Starmer responded: “I can tell you in no uncertain terms I will strive to reduce child poverty.”

He listed steps the government has already launched such as free school meals, breakfast clubs, and childcare and emphasized: “Further action is necessary, and I pledge that I am personally committed on reducing childhood poverty.”

Pressed on whether his comments indicated he would lift the two-child limit, he stated “I would not say we are going to drive down poverty among children unless I was certain that we will be taking several steps in order to do so”.

Clear Signals from the Chancellor

Rachel Reeves, provided an equally strong hint earlier this week stating to BBC Radio 5 Live that “in the end, children must not be punished if their parents are struggling financially”.

Ministers are reportedly planning to lift the limit entirely, having originally looked at ways to taper it either for very large families or wealthier families. The Resolution Foundation projects this would cost roughly £3.5 billion by 2029-30.

Ideological Split and National Renewal

In the interview, the Prime Minister explained the ideological split currently in Britain was between Labour’s “patriotic national renewal” versus “the toxic division of Reform” and others on the right who were “dividing the nation”.

“Certain language currently circulating – racist rhetoric, divisive rhetoric – which I believed had been addressed long ago is returning to politics and citizens are deeply afraid,” he said.

“We must confront such discrimination, that divisiveness, and we have to proudly say that British identity involves caring for others, requires rationality, entails tolerance and kindness, which we value deeply.”

Reflecting Warnings from the Health Secretary

The prime minister mirrored language used by Wes Streeting, who warned recently that a disturbing form of discrimination similar to the 1970s and 1980s was now alarmingly frequent again with healthcare workers were primary targets of it.

The health secretary said incidents of both verbal and physical attacks based on people’s skin colour had become so frequent making it “tolerated to hold racist views”.

“We must end to discrimination in this country and we need to place such harmful attitudes that’s found expression nationally back in its box and once again create an environment across Britain where racism is unacceptable to hold racist views,” Streeting said.

Defining Choice for the Public

The Prime Minister spoke during a major political gathering in September to draw clear divisions with his political opponents, saying that the public faced a crucial decision.

The prime minister explained he was engaged in a “fight for the soul of our country”, noting although the public had “reasonable” concerns about illegal migration, existed “a moral line” that Farage and others had crossed.

The PM vowed to confront anyone who argued that people who were not white were not truly British and that households who had lived in the UK for generations should be deported, stating those advocating these ideas constituted “an enemy of national renewal”.

“If you incite racist violence and hatred, that goes beyond concern: it’s criminal. This party – this great party – values national symbols, but if they are displayed alongside graffiti, targeting a business owner to ‘go home’, that is not patriotism; that’s racism,” he informed supporters.