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Decades-old racism has come back within UK politics, which creates deeply uneasy, Keir Starmer has stated, cautioning that divisive hard-right politics was “splitting the UK”.

Addressing Racist Rhetoric and Divisive Strategies

Speaking to doctor and media figure a well-known TV doctor, the prime minister accused the Reform UK party of overseeing a return to discriminatory and divisive political discourse that seemed a thing of the past decades ago”.

In the interview, which aired on a popular morning program this week, the PM also gave a clear indication suggesting the two-child benefit cap might be scrapped during the upcoming fiscal announcement in the coming weeks.

Commitment to Combat Child Poverty

Asked if he planned to eliminate the limit, which charities have said is a major cause of poverty for children across Britain, 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 such as free school meals, breakfast clubs, and child care support but added: “We need to do more than that, and I assure you and tell you I am dedicated to driving down child poverty.”

Pressed on whether his remarks indicated he intended to remove the two-child cap, Starmer said “It would be misleading to claim we plan to reduce child poverty if I wasn’t clear that we will be taking various actions to achieve this”.

Strong Indications from the Chancellor

Rachel Reeves, gave an equally strong hint earlier this week when she told a national radio station how finally, no child should suffer because their parents don’t have very much money”.

Ministers are reportedly planning to scrap the restriction fully, having originally looked at ways to taper it for bigger households or wealthier families. An economic thinktank projects this would cost about £3.5bn by the end of the decade.

Political Divide and National Renewal

In the interview, the Prime Minister said the political divide currently in Britain existed between the government’s vision for renewal and Reform’s harmful divisiveness and others on the right who were “dividing the nation”.

“Parts of the discourse currently circulating – racist rhetoric, divisive rhetoric – that many assumed had been addressed in the past is coming back into politics leaving people very scared,” he stated.

“It is essential to oppose to that racism, that division, and affirm with pride that British identity means showing empathy, requires rationality, entails tolerance and compassionate, and this is our pride.”

Reflecting Warnings from Wes Streeting

Starmer mirrored sentiments expressed by the Health Secretary, who cautioned earlier this month that a disturbing form of discrimination reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s was now worryingly commonplace once more with NHS staff were bearing the brunt of it.

The health secretary noted occurrences of both verbal and physical attacks based on people’s skin colour had become so frequent making it “acceptable to express racism”.

“It is time to put a stop to discrimination in this country and we’ve got to put that ugly racist sentiment that’s found expression in our country back in its box and once again create a climate in this country where racism is unacceptable to hold racist views,” the Health Secretary stated.

Defining Choice for the Public

The Prime Minister spoke at the Labour party conference this autumn to outline clear divisions between himself and Farage, saying that voters confronted a pivotal moment.

The prime minister said he was engaged in a “fight for the soul of our country”, noting although the public expressed valid worries about illegal migration, there was “a moral line” which some politicians had overstepped.

Starmer vowed to challenge those who argued that people who were not white did not belong and that families residing in Britain for years must be removed, stating those advocating these ideas constituted “an enemy of national renewal”.

“Encouraging racist violence and hostility, that goes beyond concern: it’s criminal. This party – this great party – values national symbols, yet if they are painted alongside graffiti, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to ‘go home’, that’s not pride; that is pure discrimination,” he informed supporters.