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Long-standing racial prejudice is resurfacing to British politics, and it makes people feel very scared, the Prime Minister has stated, alerting how divisive hard-right politics was “dividing the nation”.

Addressing Racist Rhetoric and Harmful Politics

Speaking to doctor and media figure Amir Khan, the prime minister accused the Reform UK party of overseeing a return to discriminatory and divisive politics “that frankly I thought we had dealt with long ago”.

In the interview, broadcast on ITV’s Lorraine show on Tuesday, Starmer also gave a clear indication that the two-child benefit cap would be lifted during the upcoming fiscal announcement in the coming weeks.

Promise to Reduce Child Poverty

When questioned whether he planned to eliminate this restriction, which charities have said is a major cause of poverty for children across Britain, Starmer said: “I want to state unequivocally I am determined to drive child poverty down.”

He listed measures ministers have already introduced including no-cost school lunches, morning meal programs, and child care support and emphasized: “Further action is necessary, and I pledge that I am dedicated to cutting childhood poverty.”

When pressed on whether his remarks indicated he would lift the two-child cap, Starmer 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 for that purpose”.

Clear Indications from the Chancellor

The Chancellor, provided a similarly clear signal earlier this week stating to BBC Radio 5 Live how finally, a child should not be penalised due to their family’s financial situation”.

Government officials are understood to be preparing to remove the cap completely, after initially considering phasing it out either for very large families or wealthier families. An economic thinktank projects the expense would be roughly £3.5 billion by 2029-30.

Ideological Split and National Renewal

During the discussion, the Prime Minister explained the political divide currently in Britain was between the government’s vision for renewal and Reform’s harmful divisiveness and other right-wing groups who were “splitting the UK”.

“Parts of the discourse we’re hearing – racist rhetoric, polarizing language – which I believed was resolved long ago is returning to politics and citizens are very scared,” he stated.

“We must confront to that racism, that divisiveness, and affirm with pride that to be British is to have concern for others, is to be reasonable, entails tolerance and kindness, which we value deeply.”

Reflecting Concerns from the Health Secretary

Starmer mirrored sentiments expressed by the Health Secretary, who warned recently how a disturbing form of discrimination similar to past decades had become worryingly commonplace again and that NHS staff were bearing the brunt of this trend.

The health secretary noted occurrences of verbal and physical abuse targeting individuals due to race had become so frequent that it was now “tolerated to hold racist views”.

“We’ve got to call time on racism in this country and we need to place such harmful attitudes that’s found expression nationally back in its box and reestablish a climate in this country where it is not socially acceptable to be racist,” Streeting said.

Defining Choice for the Public

The Prime Minister spoke during a major political gathering in September to outline clear divisions with his political opponents, stating that the public faced a “defining choice”.

He said he was involved in a struggle for the nation’s identity, and argued although voters expressed valid worries regarding unauthorized immigration, existed “a moral line” which some politicians had overstepped.

The PM pledged to challenge anyone who argued that people who were not white were not truly British and that households who had lived in Britain for years should be deported, stating those advocating these ideas constituted “opposed to the country’s progress”.

“Encouraging racist violence and hostility, that is not expressing concern: it’s criminal. This party – this great party – is proud of our flags, but if they are displayed with hateful messages, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to ‘go home’, that is not patriotism; that’s racism,” he told supporters.