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Historical racial prejudice is resurfacing to British politics, and it makes people feel very scared, the Prime Minister warned, alerting how polarizing hard-right political tactics are “tearing our country apart”.

Addressing Discriminatory Language and Harmful Politics

In conversation with GP and TV personality a well-known TV doctor, Starmer accused the Reform UK party for enabling the revival of racist and divisive politics “that frankly I thought we had dealt with years back”.

In the interview, which aired on ITV’s Lorraine show this week, the PM provided a clear indication suggesting the limit on child benefits could be removed in the budget later this month.

Promise to Combat Poverty Among Children

When questioned if he would scrap this restriction, as noted by advocacy groups is the biggest driver of poverty for children across Britain, the Prime Minister said: “I want to state unequivocally I am determined to drive child poverty down.”

He outlined measures ministers have already introduced including no-cost school lunches, breakfast clubs, and childcare and emphasized: “We need to do more than that, and I assure you that I will personally focus to cutting child poverty.”

When pressed on whether his remarks meant he intended to remove the two-child limit, Starmer stated “I would not say we are going to drive down child poverty unless I was certain that we will be taking several steps to achieve this”.

Strong Signals from the Chancellor

Rachel Reeves, provided a similarly clear signal on Monday stating to a national radio station how ultimately, no child should suffer if their parents are struggling financially”.

Ministers are reportedly planning to scrap the restriction fully, having originally looked at gradual removal either for very large families or wealthier families. The Resolution Foundation projects the expense would be about £3.5bn by 2029-30.

Ideological Split and National Renewal

In the interview, the Prime Minister said the political divide currently in Britain existed between Labour’s “patriotic national renewal” and “the toxic division of Reform” and other right-wing groups who were “tearing our country apart”.

“Some of the rhetoric currently circulating – racist rhetoric, divisive rhetoric – that many assumed was resolved in the past is coming back into politics and it makes people feel very scared,” he stated.

“We have to stand up to that racism, that divisiveness, and affirm with pride that to be British is to have concern for others, is to be reasonable, entails tolerance and compassionate, and we’re proud of that.”

Echoing Warnings from Wes Streeting

The prime minister mirrored language used by the Health Secretary, who warned earlier this month how a disturbing form of discrimination reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s had become worryingly commonplace again and that healthcare workers were facing the worst of it.

The health secretary said incidents of verbal and physical abuse targeting individuals due to race had become so frequent that it had become “acceptable to express racism”.

“We must end on racism across the UK and we’ve got to put such harmful attitudes that has emerged in our country where it belongs and reestablish a climate across Britain where racism is unacceptable to be racist,” Streeting said.

Defining Choice for the Public

Starmer spoke during a major political gathering in September to outline clear divisions with his political opponents, stating that voters faced a crucial decision.

The prime minister said he was involved in a struggle for the nation’s identity, noting that while voters expressed valid worries about illegal migration, existed an ethical boundary which some politicians had crossed.

The PM pledged to challenge anyone who argued that people who were not white did not belong and that households residing in the UK for generations should be deported, stating those advocating these ideas were “an enemy of national renewal”.

“If you incite racial attacks and hostility, that goes beyond concern: it is illegal. This party – this great party – is proud of our flags, yet if they are painted alongside graffiti, targeting a business owner to leave the country, that is not patriotism; that’s racism,” he told supporters.