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Historical racial prejudice is resurfacing within UK politics, which creates deeply uneasy, the Prime Minister warned, cautioning that polarizing hard-right political tactics was “dividing the nation”.

Tackling Racist Rhetoric and Divisive Politics

Speaking with doctor and media figure a well-known TV doctor, Starmer accused the Reform UK party of overseeing the revival to discriminatory and divisive politics which many believed was resolved years back”.

In the interview, which aired on ITV’s Lorraine show on Tuesday, the PM also gave his strongest signal that the limit on child benefits would be lifted in the budget in the coming weeks.

Promise to Reduce Poverty Among Children

When questioned whether he would scrap the limit, which charities have said is a major cause of child poverty across Britain, the Prime Minister said: “Let me be perfectly clear I will strive to lower poverty rates for kids.”

He outlined measures the government has already launched such as free school meals, morning meal programs, and child care support but added: “We must go beyond these efforts, and I assure you and tell you I will personally focus on reducing childhood poverty.”

Pressed on whether his remarks meant he would lift the two-child cap, Starmer said “I would not say we aim to lower poverty among children if I wasn’t clear that we will implement various actions to achieve this”.

Strong Signals from Rachel Reeves

The Chancellor, gave a similarly clear signal earlier this week when she told BBC Radio 5 Live how ultimately, a child should not be penalised because their parents don’t have very much money”.

Ministers are understood to be preparing to remove the cap completely, having originally looked at ways to taper it either for very large families or wealthier families. The Resolution Foundation projects the expense would be roughly £3.5 billion by the end of the decade.

Ideological Split and Country’s Revival

During the discussion, Starmer explained the political divide in the UK now existed between the government’s vision for renewal and Reform’s harmful divisiveness and others on the right who were “splitting the UK”.

“Parts of the discourse we’re hearing – racist rhetoric, polarizing language – that many assumed was resolved in the past is coming back into politics and citizens are very scared,” he said.

“We have to stand up such discrimination, that division, and declare confidently that to be British is to have concern for others, requires rationality, is to be tolerant and compassionate, and we’re proud of that.”

Reflecting Warnings from the Health Secretary

The prime minister echoed language used by Wes Streeting, who cautioned earlier this month that a disturbing form of discrimination reminiscent of past decades was now alarmingly frequent once more with NHS staff were facing the worst of it.

The health secretary said incidents of both verbal and physical attacks targeting individuals due to race had become so frequent making it “tolerated to hold racist views”.

“We’ve got to call time to discrimination in this country and we need to place that ugly racist sentiment that’s found expression in our country where it belongs and reestablish a climate in this country where racism is unacceptable to hold racist views,” the Health Secretary said.

Critical Decision for the Public

The Prime Minister spoke at the Labour party conference in September to draw political battle lines with his political opponents, saying that voters faced a “defining choice”.

He said he was involved in a “fight for the soul of our country”, noting although the public expressed valid worries about illegal migration, existed “a moral line” which some politicians had crossed.

Starmer pledged to challenge anyone who argued that non-white individuals were not truly British and that families residing in Britain for years should be deported, saying those advocating these ideas constituted “opposed to the country’s progress”.

“Encouraging racial attacks and hatred, that goes beyond concern: it’s criminal. Our political movement is proud of our flags, yet if they are painted with hateful messages, targeting a business owner to leave the country, that is not patriotism; that’s racism,” he told activists.