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Decades-old racial prejudice is resurfacing to UK the political arena, and it leaves citizens fearful, the Prime Minister has stated, cautioning that polarizing hard-right political tactics was “tearing our country apart”.

Confronting Racist Language and Harmful Politics

Speaking to GP and TV personality Amir Khan, Starmer accused the Reform UK party of overseeing a return of discriminatory and divisive politics “that frankly I thought we had dealt with years back”.

In the interview, broadcast on ITV’s Lorraine show on Tuesday, the PM also gave a clear indication suggesting the two-child benefit cap would be lifted in the budget in the coming weeks.

Promise to Reduce Child Poverty

Asked whether he planned to eliminate the limit, which charities have said is a major cause of poverty for children in the UK, the Prime Minister responded: “Let me be perfectly clear I am determined to drive child poverty down.”

He outlined steps the government has already launched such as no-cost school lunches, morning meal programs, and child care support but added: “Further action is necessary, and I pledge that I will personally focus to cutting child poverty.”

When pressed on whether his remarks indicated he would lift the two-child limit, Starmer stated “It would be misleading to claim we aim to lower child poverty without being sure that measures will be introduced a number of measures for that purpose”.

Clear Signals from the Chancellor

Rachel Reeves, provided a similarly clear signal on Monday stating to a national radio station that finally, no child should suffer because their parents don’t have very much money”.

Ministers are getting ready to remove the cap completely, after initially considering ways to taper it either for very large families or wealthier families. An economic thinktank projects this would cost about £3.5bn by 2029-30.

Ideological Split and Country’s Revival

In the interview, Starmer said the political divide currently in Britain was between the government’s vision for renewal versus “the toxic division of Reform” and other right-wing groups that are “splitting the UK”.

“Parts of the discourse being used – discriminatory talk, divisive rhetoric – that many assumed was resolved long ago is coming back into politics and it makes people feel fearful,” he said.

“We have to stand up such discrimination, that divisiveness, and we have to proudly say that to be British involves caring for others, requires rationality, is to be tolerant and kindness, which we value deeply.”

Echoing Concerns from the Health Secretary

Starmer echoed sentiments expressed by Wes Streeting, who warned earlier this month how a disturbing form of discrimination similar to past decades had become worryingly commonplace again and that healthcare workers were primary targets of this trend.

Streeting noted occurrences of verbal and physical abuse targeting individuals due to race had become so frequent making it “tolerated to hold racist views”.

“We’ve got to call time to discrimination across the UK and we’ve got to put such harmful attitudes that’s found expression nationally back in its box and once again create a climate across Britain where it is not socially acceptable to hold racist views,” Streeting stated.

Defining Choice for Voters

Starmer used his speech during a major political gathering this autumn to outline political battle lines between himself and Farage, saying that the public faced a crucial decision.

He explained he was engaged in a “fight for the soul of our country”, and argued although the public had “reasonable” concerns about illegal migration, there was an ethical boundary which some politicians had overstepped.

Starmer pledged to challenge those claiming that non-white individuals could not be English or British and that families who had lived in Britain for years should be deported, saying those advocating these ideas constituted “opposed to the country’s progress”.

“If you incite racist violence and hostility, that is not expressing concern: it’s criminal. This party – this great party – is proud of our flags, yet if they are painted with hateful messages, targeting a business owner to ‘go home’, that’s not pride; that is pure discrimination,” he informed activists.