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Historical racism is resurfacing to UK the political arena, and it leaves citizens fearful, Keir Starmer warned, cautioning how divisive hard-right politics was “tearing our country apart”.

Confronting Racist Language and Divisive Politics

Speaking to doctor and media figure a well-known TV doctor, the prime minister pointed to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK of overseeing a return to racist and divisive political discourse “that frankly I thought we had dealt with years back”.

In the interview, which aired on ITV’s Lorraine show this week, the PM provided a clear indication that the two-child benefit cap would be lifted during the upcoming fiscal announcement later this month.

Commitment to Reduce Poverty Among Children

When questioned if he would scrap this restriction, which charities have said is a major cause of poverty for children in the UK, the Prime Minister said: “Let me be perfectly clear I am committed to lower poverty rates for kids.”

He listed measures ministers have already introduced including no-cost school lunches, breakfast clubs, and child care support but added: “We must go beyond these efforts, and I assure you that I will personally focus to cutting child poverty.”

Pressed about if his comments meant he would lift the two-child cap, he stated he “wouldn’t be telling you we aim to lower poverty among children if I wasn’t clear that we will be taking several steps for that purpose”.

Strong Signals from the Chancellor

The Chancellor, gave a similarly clear signal on Monday stating to BBC Radio 5 Live that “in the end, a child should not be penalised if their parents are struggling financially”.

Government officials are getting ready to scrap the restriction fully, having originally looked at ways to taper it for bigger households or richer ones. An economic thinktank projects this would cost about £3.5bn by the end of the decade.

Ideological Split and National Renewal

In the interview, the Prime Minister said the ideological split in the UK now was between the government’s vision for renewal and “the toxic division of Reform” and other right-wing groups that are “tearing our country apart”.

“Parts of the discourse we’re hearing – discriminatory talk, divisive rhetoric – that many assumed we had dealt with decades ago has reemerged in political debate and citizens are very scared,” he stated.

“It is essential to oppose such discrimination, that division, and we have to proudly say that British identity involves caring for others, is about being fair, is to be tolerant and kindness, and we’re proud of that.”

Reflecting Warnings from the Health Secretary

Starmer mirrored language used by the Health Secretary, who warned earlier this month that an “ugly” racism reminiscent of past decades had become worryingly commonplace again with NHS staff were facing the worst of this trend.

The health secretary said incidents of both verbal and physical attacks targeting individuals due to race now happened so often that it was now “socially acceptable to be racist”.

“We must end to discrimination in this country and we need to place such harmful attitudes that has emerged in our country back in its box and once again create a climate across Britain where racism is unacceptable to hold racist views,” the Health Secretary stated.

Defining Choice for the Public

The Prime Minister used his speech at the Labour party conference in September to draw clear divisions between himself and Farage, saying that the public faced a “defining choice”.

The prime minister explained he was engaged in a struggle for the nation’s identity, noting that while the public had “reasonable” concerns regarding unauthorized immigration, existed “a moral line” that Farage and others had crossed.

Starmer pledged to challenge anyone claiming that people who were not white did not belong and that households residing in Britain for years should be deported, stating those advocating these ideas were “against national unity”.

“If you incite racial attacks and hatred, that is not expressing concern: it is illegal. This party – this great party – values national symbols, but if they are displayed alongside graffiti, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to ‘go home’, that’s not pride; that’s racism,” he informed supporters.