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Decades-old racism has come back to UK politics, and it leaves citizens very scared, the Prime Minister warned, cautioning how polarizing hard-right political tactics are “dividing the nation”.

Addressing Discriminatory Language and Harmful Strategies

Speaking to GP and TV personality Amir Khan, the prime minister accused Nigel Farage’s Reform UK for enabling a return of racist and divisive political discourse which many believed was resolved years back”.

During the discussion, broadcast on ITV’s Lorraine show this week, the PM also gave a clear indication suggesting the two-child benefit cap would be lifted in the budget later this month.

Commitment to Combat Poverty Among Children

Asked whether he planned to eliminate the limit, as noted by advocacy groups is the biggest driver of poverty for children across Britain, the Prime Minister responded: “Let me be perfectly clear I am determined to reduce child poverty.”

He outlined measures ministers have already introduced including no-cost school lunches, morning meal programs, and childcare and emphasized: “Further action is necessary, and I pledge that I am dedicated on reducing childhood poverty.”

Pressed about if his remarks meant he would lift the two-child cap, Starmer said “I would not say we plan to reduce poverty among children without being sure that we will be taking a number of measures to achieve this”.

Clear Indications from Rachel Reeves

Rachel Reeves, gave an equally strong hint earlier this week when she told BBC Radio 5 Live how “in the end, no child should suffer because their parents don’t have very much money”.

Government officials are understood to be preparing to scrap the restriction fully, after initially considering ways to taper it for bigger households or richer ones. An economic thinktank projects the expense would be about £3.5bn in the coming years.

Political Divide and Country’s Revival

During the discussion, Starmer said the political divide in the UK now was between the government’s vision for renewal and “the toxic division of Reform” and others on the right that are “dividing the nation”.

“Some of the rhetoric currently circulating – discriminatory talk, polarizing language – that frankly I thought we had dealt with in the past is coming back into politics and it makes people feel fearful,” he said.

“It is essential to oppose to that racism, that division, and declare confidently that to be British is to have concern for others, is to be reasonable, entails tolerance and kindness, which we value deeply.”

Echoing Concerns from the Health Secretary

Starmer mirrored sentiments used by the Health Secretary, who warned earlier this month that an “ugly” racism similar to the 1970s and 1980s was now alarmingly frequent again with healthcare workers were primary targets of this trend.

Streeting noted incidents of both verbal and physical attacks targeting individuals due to race now happened so often that it had become “socially acceptable to be racist”.

“We must end on racism in this country and we’ve got to put such harmful attitudes that’s found expression nationally where it belongs and reestablish a climate across Britain where it is not socially acceptable to hold racist views,” Streeting said.

Defining Choice for the Public

The Prime Minister used his speech at the Labour party conference this autumn to draw political battle lines between himself and Farage, saying that voters faced a “defining choice”.

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

Starmer pledged to “fight” those who argued that non-white individuals could not be English or British and that households residing in Britain for years should be deported, stating people promoting such views constituted “an enemy of national renewal”.

“Encouraging racist violence and hatred, that is not expressing concern: it’s criminal. Our political movement is proud of our flags, yet if they are painted alongside graffiti, targeting a business owner to leave the country, that’s not pride; that’s racism,” he informed activists.