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Historical racism is resurfacing within UK politics, and it makes people feel very scared, Keir Starmer has stated, cautioning how polarizing hard-right political tactics was “splitting the UK”.

Tackling Discriminatory Rhetoric and Divisive Politics

In conversation to GP and TV personality Amir Khan, Starmer accused the Reform UK party of overseeing a return of discriminatory and divisive political discourse which many believed was resolved long ago”.

In the interview, broadcast on ITV’s Lorraine show this week, Starmer also gave his strongest signal suggesting the limit on child benefits would be lifted during the upcoming fiscal announcement in the coming weeks.

Promise to Combat Poverty Among Children

When questioned if he would scrap the limit, which charities have said is a major cause of poverty for children in the UK, Starmer said: “I want to state unequivocally I will strive to lower poverty rates for kids.”

He outlined steps ministers have already introduced including no-cost school lunches, morning meal programs, and child care support and emphasized: “We need to do more than that, and I assure you and tell you I am personally committed to driving down child poverty.”

When pressed on whether his remarks meant he would lift the two-child cap, Starmer said “I would not say we aim to lower child poverty unless I was certain that measures will be introduced a number of measures to achieve this”.

Clear Indications from Rachel Reeves

Rachel Reeves, provided a similarly clear signal on Monday when she told BBC Radio 5 Live how finally, a child should not be penalised if their parents are struggling financially”.

Ministers are reportedly planning to scrap the restriction fully, after initially considering phasing it out either for very large families or richer ones. The Resolution Foundation projects this would cost about £3.5bn by the end of the decade.

Ideological Split and National Renewal

During the discussion, the Prime Minister said the ideological split currently in Britain existed between the government’s vision for renewal and Reform’s harmful divisiveness and others on the right who were “splitting the UK”.

“Parts of the discourse being used – racist rhetoric, polarizing language – that many assumed was resolved in the past is returning to politics leaving people deeply afraid,” he said.

“We must confront such discrimination, that division, and affirm with pride that to be British is to have concern for others, requires rationality, is to be tolerant and kindness, and this is our pride.”

Echoing Warnings from Wes Streeting

Starmer echoed language used by the Health Secretary, who warned earlier this month how a disturbing form of discrimination similar to past decades was now worryingly commonplace again with NHS staff were bearing the brunt of this trend.

The health secretary said occurrences of both verbal and physical attacks based on people’s skin colour now happened so often that it had become “tolerated to hold racist views”.

“We must end on racism across the UK and we’ve got to put that ugly racist sentiment that has emerged in our country back in its box and once again create an environment in this country where it is not socially acceptable to be racist,” Streeting said.

Defining Choice for Voters

Starmer spoke during a major political gathering in September to draw clear divisions between himself and Farage, saying that voters confronted a “defining choice”.

He said he was involved in a struggle for the nation’s identity, noting that while voters expressed valid worries regarding unauthorized immigration, there was “a moral line” which some politicians had overstepped.

The PM pledged to challenge anyone who argued that people who were not white were not truly British and that households residing in Britain for years must be removed, saying those advocating these ideas constituted “an enemy of national renewal”.

“If you incite racial attacks and hostility, that goes beyond concern: it’s criminal. This party – this great party – is proud of our flags, but if they are displayed alongside graffiti, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to leave the country, that’s not pride; that’s racism,” he informed activists.