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Historical racial prejudice has come back to UK politics, which makes people feel fearful, the Prime Minister warned, alerting how divisive hard-right political tactics are “dividing the nation”.

Confronting Discriminatory Language and Harmful Strategies

In conversation to GP and TV personality a well-known TV doctor, Starmer pointed to the Reform UK party of overseeing the revival of racist and divisive political discourse that seemed a thing of the past long ago”.

During the discussion, broadcast on ITV’s Lorraine show this week, Starmer also gave his strongest signal suggesting the two-child benefit cap might be scrapped in the budget in the coming weeks.

Commitment to Reduce Child Poverty

When questioned if he planned to eliminate the limit, which charities have said is the biggest driver of child poverty across Britain, the Prime Minister said: “I can tell you in no uncertain terms I am determined to drive child poverty down.”

He outlined measures the government has already launched such as no-cost school lunches, morning meal programs, and child care support but added: “We need to do more than that, and I pledge that I am personally committed to cutting childhood poverty.”

Pressed on whether his remarks indicated he intended to remove the two-child limit, he said “I would not say we aim to lower child poverty without being sure that we will implement a number of measures to achieve this”.

Strong Indications from the Chancellor

The Chancellor, provided an equally strong hint 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”.

Ministers are getting ready to remove the cap completely, after initially considering gradual removal for bigger households or wealthier families. An economic thinktank has estimated this would cost roughly £3.5 billion by 2029-30.

Ideological Split and Country’s Revival

During the discussion, the Prime Minister said the political divide currently in Britain was between Labour’s “patriotic national renewal” versus “the toxic division of Reform” and others on the right who were “splitting the UK”.

“Certain language we’re hearing – racist rhetoric, polarizing language – that frankly I thought we had dealt with in the past has reemerged in political debate and citizens are deeply afraid,” he said.

“We must confront such discrimination, that division, and we have to proudly say that to be British means showing empathy, is about being fair, is to be tolerant and compassionate, and we’re proud of that.”

Reflecting Concerns from Wes Streeting

The prime minister echoed sentiments used by the Health Secretary, who cautioned recently how an “ugly” racism reminiscent of past decades had become worryingly commonplace once more with healthcare workers were facing the worst of this trend.

Streeting said occurrences of verbal and physical abuse targeting individuals due to race had become so frequent that it had become “acceptable to express racism”.

“It is time to put a stop on racism in this country and we’ve got to put such harmful attitudes that’s found expression in our country where it belongs and once again create a climate in this country where racism is unacceptable to be racist,” 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, stating that voters faced a “defining choice”.

He explained he was engaged in a “fight for the soul of our country”, noting although the public expressed valid worries regarding unauthorized immigration, there was “a moral line” that Farage and others had crossed.

The PM pledged to “fight” those claiming that people who were not white were not truly British and that households residing in the UK for generations should be deported, stating people promoting such views constituted “opposed to the country’s progress”.

“If you incite racial attacks and hostility, that goes beyond concern: it is illegal. Our political movement values national symbols, but if they are displayed with hateful messages, targeting a business owner to ‘go home’, that is not patriotism; that is pure discrimination,” he told activists.