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Decades-old racial prejudice has come back within British politics, and it creates very scared, the Prime Minister warned, alerting how divisive hard-right politics are “dividing the nation”.

Addressing Discriminatory Rhetoric and Divisive Strategies

Speaking with doctor and media figure Amir Khan, the prime minister accused Nigel Farage’s Reform UK of overseeing a return to racist and divisive political discourse that seemed a thing of the past years back”.

During the discussion, which aired on ITV’s Lorraine show on Tuesday, the PM also gave his strongest signal suggesting the limit on child benefits might be scrapped in the budget later this month.

Promise to Combat Child Poverty

Asked whether he planned to eliminate this restriction, as noted by advocacy groups is the biggest driver of child poverty across Britain, Starmer said: “Let me be perfectly clear I am committed to reduce child poverty.”

He listed steps ministers have already introduced such as no-cost school lunches, morning meal programs, and child care support but added: “Further action is necessary, and I assure you that I am personally committed to cutting child poverty.”

When 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 a number of measures to achieve this”.

Clear Indications from the Chancellor

Rachel Reeves, gave an equally strong hint on Monday when she told BBC Radio 5 Live that “in the end, no child should suffer due to their family’s financial situation”.

Ministers are reportedly planning to remove the cap completely, having originally looked at ways to taper it for bigger households or wealthier families. An economic thinktank has estimated the expense would be about £3.5bn in the coming years.

Ideological Split and Country’s Revival

In the interview, the Prime Minister explained the ideological split currently in Britain existed between Labour’s “patriotic national renewal” and Reform’s harmful divisiveness and others on the right who were “dividing the nation”.

“Some of the rhetoric currently circulating – discriminatory talk, divisive rhetoric – that frankly I thought we had dealt with in the past has reemerged in political debate and citizens are fearful,” he said.

“It is essential to oppose such discrimination, that divisiveness, and we have to proudly say that British identity involves caring for others, requires rationality, is to be tolerant and compassionate, which we value deeply.”

Reflecting Concerns from the Health Secretary

Starmer echoed language expressed by the Health Secretary, who cautioned recently how an “ugly” racism similar to the 1970s and 1980s was now worryingly commonplace again and that healthcare workers were facing the worst of this trend.

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

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

Critical Decision for the Public

The Prime Minister used his speech at the Labour party conference in September to outline clear divisions with his political opponents, saying that the public faced a pivotal moment.

He explained he was engaged in a “fight for the soul of our country”, noting that while voters had “reasonable” concerns about illegal migration, existed an ethical boundary which some politicians had overstepped.

Starmer vowed to confront anyone who argued that non-white individuals were not truly British and that families residing in Britain for years must be removed, stating people promoting such views constituted “opposed to the country’s progress”.

“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 with hateful messages, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to ‘go home’, that is not patriotism; that is pure discrimination,” he told activists.