🔗 Share this article Racism Returning in British Politics, Making People Very Scared, the Prime Minister Says Long-standing racial prejudice has come back within British the political arena, and it creates deeply uneasy, the Prime Minister warned, cautioning how polarizing far-right politics are “tearing our country apart”. Addressing Discriminatory Rhetoric and Harmful Politics In conversation to GP and TV personality a well-known TV doctor, Starmer pointed to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK for enabling the revival to discriminatory and divisive political discourse which many believed was resolved decades ago”. During the discussion, broadcast on a popular morning program on Tuesday, the PM provided a clear indication suggesting the two-child benefit cap could be removed during the upcoming fiscal announcement later this month. Commitment to Reduce Child Poverty When questioned whether he planned to eliminate the limit, which charities have said is the biggest driver of child poverty across Britain, Starmer said: “Let me be perfectly clear I will strive to lower poverty rates for kids.” He listed measures ministers have already introduced including no-cost school lunches, breakfast clubs, and childcare and emphasized: “We need to do more than that, and I can look you in the eye that I am dedicated on reducing childhood poverty.” When pressed on whether his comments indicated he intended to remove the two-child cap, Starmer stated “I would not say we aim to lower poverty among children unless I was certain that measures will be introduced a number of measures for that purpose”. Clear Indications from Rachel Reeves Rachel Reeves, provided a similarly clear signal earlier this week when she told a national radio station how ultimately, children must not be punished due to their family’s financial situation”. Ministers are understood to be preparing to remove the cap completely, having originally looked at phasing it out either for very large families or wealthier families. An economic thinktank projects this would cost about £3.5bn by 2029-30. Political Divide and National Renewal During the discussion, Starmer explained the political divide currently in Britain existed between Labour’s “patriotic national renewal” versus Reform’s harmful divisiveness and other right-wing groups that are “splitting the UK”. “Some of the rhetoric we’re hearing – discriminatory talk, divisive rhetoric – which I believed had been addressed long ago is coming back into politics and it makes people feel fearful,” 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, entails tolerance and kindness, which we value deeply.” Reflecting Warnings from the Health Secretary Starmer echoed sentiments used by the Health Secretary, who cautioned recently that an “ugly” racism reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s was now alarmingly frequent again and that NHS staff were facing the worst of this trend. Streeting noted incidents of verbal and physical abuse targeting individuals due to race now happened so often making it “acceptable to express racism”. “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 an environment across Britain where racism is unacceptable to be racist,” the Health Secretary stated. Critical Decision for Voters The Prime Minister used his speech at the Labour party conference in September to draw clear divisions with his political opponents, stating that voters faced a pivotal moment. The prime minister explained he was engaged in a struggle for the nation’s identity, and argued that while voters had “reasonable” concerns regarding unauthorized immigration, existed “a moral line” which some politicians had overstepped. The PM pledged to challenge those claiming that non-white individuals did not belong and that households who had lived in Britain for years should be deported, saying those advocating these ideas were “an enemy of national renewal”. “Encouraging racial attacks and hostility, that goes beyond concern: it is illegal. This party – this great party – values national symbols, yet if they are painted alongside graffiti, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to leave the country, that’s not pride; that’s racism,” he informed activists.