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Historical racism has come back within UK politics, and it makes people feel very scared, the Prime Minister has stated, cautioning how polarizing far-right politics are “tearing our country apart”.

Tackling Racist Language and Harmful Strategies

Speaking to doctor and media figure a well-known TV doctor, the prime minister accused Nigel Farage’s Reform UK of overseeing the revival to discriminatory and divisive politics that seemed a thing of the past years back”.

In the interview, broadcast on ITV’s Lorraine show on Tuesday, Starmer also gave his strongest signal that the limit on child benefits might be scrapped during the upcoming fiscal announcement later this month.

Promise to Combat Poverty Among Children

Asked if he would scrap the limit, which charities have said is a major cause of child poverty in the UK, Starmer responded: “I can tell you in no uncertain terms I will strive to drive child poverty down.”

He outlined steps ministers have already introduced including free school meals, breakfast clubs, and child care support and emphasized: “We must go beyond these efforts, and I can look you in the eye and tell you I will personally focus on reducing childhood poverty.”

Pressed about if his remarks meant he intended to remove the two-child limit, Starmer stated he “wouldn’t be telling you we aim to lower poverty among children if I wasn’t clear that we will be taking various actions for that purpose”.

Clear Indications from the Chancellor

The Chancellor, provided a similarly clear signal earlier this week when she told BBC Radio 5 Live that ultimately, a child should not be penalised due to their family’s financial situation”.

Government officials are reportedly planning to lift the limit entirely, after initially considering gradual removal either for very large families or wealthier families. An economic thinktank has estimated this would cost roughly £3.5 billion by the end of the decade.

Political Divide and Country’s Revival

During the discussion, Starmer said the ideological split in the UK now existed between Labour’s “patriotic national renewal” versus “the toxic division of Reform” and other right-wing groups that are “dividing the nation”.

“Parts of the discourse being used – discriminatory talk, divisive rhetoric – that frankly I thought had been addressed long ago has reemerged in political debate and citizens are very scared,” he stated.

“It is essential to oppose such discrimination, that divisiveness, and declare confidently that to be British involves caring for others, is to be reasonable, entails tolerance and compassionate, and we’re proud of that.”

Reflecting Concerns from the Health Secretary

The prime minister echoed language used by the Health Secretary, who cautioned recently that an “ugly” racism similar to the 1970s and 1980s had become alarmingly frequent once more with NHS staff were facing the worst of it.

The health secretary noted incidents of verbal and physical abuse based on people’s skin colour now happened so often making it “tolerated to hold racist views”.

“We’ve got to call time on racism across the UK and we need to place such harmful attitudes that has emerged in our country back in its box and once again create a climate across Britain that rejects racism to be racist,” the Health Secretary stated.

Critical Decision for Voters

Starmer used his speech at the Labour party conference this autumn to outline clear divisions with his political opponents, saying that voters confronted a crucial decision.

He said he was engaged in a struggle for the nation’s identity, noting that while voters had “reasonable” concerns about illegal migration, existed “a moral line” which some politicians had crossed.

The PM pledged to confront anyone claiming that people who were not white did not belong and that families who had lived in Britain for years must be removed, saying those advocating these ideas were “against national unity”.

“If you incite racist violence and hatred, that is not expressing concern: it is illegal. Our political movement 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 told activists.