🔗 Share this article Xenophobia Returning in British Politics, Making People Deeply Concerned, Starmer Declares Historical racial prejudice is returning to British politics, and it leaves citizens very scared, the Prime Minister warned, cautioning that polarizing far-right politics was “tearing our country apart”. Confronting Discriminatory Language and Divisive Politics Speaking to doctor and media figure Amir Khan, Starmer accused the Reform UK party for enabling the revival of discriminatory and divisive politics “that frankly I thought we had dealt with years back”. In the interview, broadcast on ITV’s Lorraine show this week, the PM also gave his strongest signal that the two-child benefit cap could be removed during the upcoming fiscal announcement in the coming weeks. Promise to Combat Poverty Among Children When questioned whether he planned to eliminate the limit, which charities have said is a major cause of poverty for children in the UK, Starmer said: “Let me be perfectly clear I will strive to reduce child poverty.” He listed steps the government has already launched such as no-cost school lunches, breakfast clubs, and child care support and emphasized: “We need to do more than that, and I can look you in the eye and tell you I will personally focus on reducing child poverty.” Pressed on whether his remarks meant he intended to remove the two-child limit, Starmer said “I would not say we plan to reduce child poverty if I wasn’t clear that we will be taking a number of measures in order to do so”. Strong Signals from Rachel Reeves The Chancellor, gave an equally strong hint on Monday when she told BBC Radio 5 Live how ultimately, no child should suffer because their parents don’t have very much money”. Government officials are understood to be preparing to lift the limit entirely, after initially considering phasing it out for bigger households or richer ones. The Resolution Foundation has estimated this would cost about £3.5bn by the end of the decade. Ideological Split and National Renewal During the discussion, the Prime Minister explained the political divide currently in Britain was between Labour’s “patriotic national renewal” versus “the toxic division of Reform” and others on the right that are “tearing our country apart”. “Parts of the discourse we’re hearing – discriminatory talk, polarizing language – that many assumed we had dealt with long ago is coming back into politics and citizens are fearful,” he said. “We have to stand up to that racism, that division, and we have to proudly say that to be British is to have concern for others, is about being fair, entails tolerance and kindness, and we’re proud of that.” Echoing Warnings from Wes Streeting Starmer mirrored sentiments used by Wes Streeting, who warned recently how an “ugly” racism reminiscent of past decades was now worryingly commonplace again and that NHS staff were primary targets of it. Streeting said occurrences of verbal and physical abuse based on people’s skin colour now happened so often making it “socially acceptable to be racist”. “We must end to discrimination across the UK and we’ve got to put that ugly racist sentiment that has emerged in our country back in its box and reestablish a climate in this country where racism is unacceptable to be racist,” the Health Secretary stated. Defining Choice for Voters The Prime Minister spoke at the Labour party conference this autumn to draw clear divisions between himself and Farage, saying that voters faced a crucial decision. The prime minister said he was involved in a “fight for the soul of our country”, noting that while the public had “reasonable” concerns regarding unauthorized immigration, there was “a moral line” which some politicians had overstepped. Starmer pledged to confront anyone claiming that non-white individuals did not belong and that households who had lived in Britain for years should be deported, stating those advocating these ideas constituted “against national unity”. “If you incite racial attacks and hatred, that goes beyond concern: it’s criminal. Our political movement is proud of our flags, but if they are displayed alongside graffiti, targeting a business owner to ‘go home’, that’s not pride; that is pure discrimination,” he informed supporters.