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Decades-old racism has come back within British the political arena, which leaves citizens very scared, the Prime Minister emphasized, cautioning that divisive hard-right political tactics are “splitting the UK”.

Confronting Racist Language and Harmful Politics

Speaking with GP and TV personality a well-known TV doctor, the prime minister pointed to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK for enabling a return to discriminatory and divisive politics that seemed a thing of the past long ago”.

During the discussion, broadcast on a popular morning program on Tuesday, Starmer also gave a clear indication that the limit on child benefits would be lifted during the upcoming fiscal announcement in the coming weeks.

Promise to Combat Poverty Among Children

Asked whether 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 committed to drive child poverty down.”

He listed steps the government has already launched such as free school meals, breakfast clubs, and childcare and emphasized: “We need to do more than that, and I pledge that I am personally committed on reducing childhood poverty.”

When pressed about if his remarks meant he intended to remove the two-child cap, he said “It would be misleading to claim we aim to lower poverty among children if I wasn’t clear that we will implement various actions to achieve this”.

Strong Indications from Rachel Reeves

Rachel Reeves, gave a similarly clear signal on Monday when she told BBC Radio 5 Live that ultimately, children must not be punished if their parents are struggling financially”.

Ministers are reportedly planning to lift the limit entirely, having originally looked at phasing it out for bigger households or richer ones. The Resolution Foundation has estimated this would cost about £3.5bn in the coming years.

Political Divide and Country’s Revival

In the interview, Starmer explained the political divide currently in Britain was between the government’s vision for renewal versus Reform’s harmful divisiveness and others on the right that are “splitting the UK”.

“Some of the rhetoric we’re hearing – racist rhetoric, divisive rhetoric – that frankly I thought had been addressed in the past has reemerged in political debate leaving people very scared,” he stated.

“We have to stand up to that racism, that divisiveness, and declare confidently that to be British means showing empathy, requires rationality, entails tolerance and compassionate, and this is our pride.”

Reflecting Warnings from the Health Secretary

Starmer echoed language expressed by Wes Streeting, who cautioned earlier this month that an “ugly” racism similar to past decades was now worryingly commonplace once more with NHS staff were primary targets of it.

Streeting said occurrences of both verbal and physical attacks based on people’s skin colour had become so frequent that it had become “socially acceptable to be racist”.

“We’ve got to call time on racism across the UK and we need to place such harmful attitudes that has emerged nationally back in its box and once again create a climate in this country where racism is unacceptable to hold racist views,” Streeting stated.

Defining Choice for Voters

Starmer spoke at the Labour party conference in September to draw clear divisions with his political opponents, saying that the public faced a “defining choice”.

He said he was engaged in a “fight for the soul of our country”, noting that while the public had “reasonable” concerns regarding unauthorized immigration, there was an ethical boundary which some politicians had overstepped.

Starmer vowed to challenge those who argued that people who were not white were not truly British and that households residing in the UK for generations should be deported, stating those advocating these ideas constituted “opposed to the country’s progress”.

“Encouraging racial attacks and hostility, that is not expressing concern: it is illegal. Our political movement is proud of our flags, yet if they are painted with hateful messages, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to leave the country, that is not patriotism; that’s racism,” he informed supporters.