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Historical racial prejudice has come back to British the political arena, which leaves citizens deeply uneasy, Keir Starmer has stated, alerting how polarizing hard-right political tactics are “splitting the UK”.

Confronting Racist Language and Divisive Politics

Speaking to GP and TV personality Amir Khan, the prime minister pointed to the Reform UK party of overseeing the revival to racist and divisive political discourse which many believed was resolved long ago”.

In the interview, which aired on ITV’s Lorraine show this week, the PM provided his strongest signal suggesting the two-child benefit cap would be lifted during the upcoming fiscal announcement in the coming weeks.

Promise to Combat Child Poverty

Asked whether he would scrap this restriction, which charities have said is a major cause of poverty for children across Britain, the Prime Minister responded: “I want to state unequivocally I will strive to lower poverty rates for kids.”

He listed steps ministers have already introduced including free school meals, breakfast clubs, and child care support and emphasized: “Further action is necessary, and I assure you and tell you I am personally committed on reducing childhood poverty.”

When pressed on whether his comments meant he would lift the two-child cap, Starmer stated “It would be misleading to claim we aim to lower child poverty without being sure that we will be taking several steps to achieve this”.

Clear Indications from Rachel Reeves

The Chancellor, provided a similarly clear signal earlier this week stating to BBC Radio 5 Live how finally, children must not be punished due to their family’s financial situation”.

Ministers are reportedly planning to lift the limit entirely, after initially considering gradual removal for bigger households or richer ones. An economic thinktank projects this would cost roughly £3.5 billion by 2029-30.

Political Divide and Country’s Revival

In the interview, the Prime Minister explained the political divide in the UK now was between Labour’s “patriotic national renewal” versus “the toxic division of Reform” and others on the right that are “dividing the nation”.

“Some of the rhetoric currently circulating – racist rhetoric, divisive rhetoric – which I believed we had dealt with decades ago has reemerged in political debate leaving people very scared,” he said.

“We must confront such discrimination, that divisiveness, and declare confidently that British identity is to have concern for others, is about being fair, entails tolerance and compassionate, and this is our pride.”

Echoing Warnings from Wes Streeting

The prime minister echoed language expressed by the Health Secretary, who cautioned recently how an “ugly” racism reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s was now worryingly commonplace once more and that healthcare workers were facing the worst of this trend.

Streeting noted incidents of verbal and physical abuse based on people’s skin colour now happened so often making it “acceptable to express racism”.

“We must end on racism across the UK and we’ve got to put that ugly racist sentiment that’s found expression nationally where it belongs and once again create an environment in this country where racism is unacceptable to be racist,” Streeting said.

Defining Choice for Voters

Starmer used his speech during a major political gathering in September to draw clear divisions between himself and Farage, saying that voters faced a pivotal moment.

The prime minister explained he was engaged in a struggle for the nation’s identity, noting that while voters had “reasonable” concerns about illegal migration, there was an ethical boundary which some politicians had overstepped.

Starmer vowed to “fight” those who argued that people who were not white were not truly British and that households who had lived in the UK for generations must be removed, stating those advocating these ideas were “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, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to leave the country, that’s not pride; that is pure discrimination,” he told activists.