\n<\/p>\n
Keir Starmer has warned that Britain faces an era-defining choice between Labour and the populist right, as he launched a scathing attack on Nigel Farage, saying the Reform leader neither \u201cliked or believed in Britain\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a speech that drew the battle lines for the next general election, the prime minister said the UK stood at a fork in the road where \u201cwe can choose decency, we can choose division, renewal or decline\u201d.<\/p>\n
While the address at the Labour conference in Liverpool was light on policy, it signalled a notable change in voice for Starmer, who is languishing in the polls and had been urged to set out a clearer vision for the future.<\/p>\n
The prime minister will now turn to the difficult economic choices ahead in the autumn budget, which is set to be another politically perilous moment. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t get easier from here,\u201d he warned, dismissing calls for a wealth tax. \u201cAnd the tough decisions, they will keep on coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, faces the prospect of having to find up to \u00a330bn in tax rises or spending cuts next month. However, the Guardian has learned that ministers are planning to lift the two-child benefit limit, a key demand of Labour MPs and child poverty campaigners, with officials exploring a new tapered system.<\/p>\n
In an unusually impassioned speech, to a room of flag-waving delegates, Starmer said he was leading a \u201cfight for the soul\u201d of the country against Reform UK, telling those who had not voted for his party \u201cthis is your fight too\u201d.<\/p>\n
Describing Farage as a \u201csnake oil merchant\u201d, the prime minister told delegates: \u201cWe can all see our country faces a choice. A defining choice. Britain stands at a fork in the road. We can choose decency or we can choose division, renewal or decline.<\/p>\n
\u201cA country \u2013 proud of its values, in control of its future, or one that succumbs, against the grain of our history, to the politics of grievance. It is a test. A fight for the soul of our country every bit as big as rebuilding Britain after the war.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>Politicians and delegates wave flags from all parts of the UK as Keir Starmer sought to reclaim the national symbol.<\/span> Photograph: Peter Byrne\/PA<\/p>\n However, Starmer warned the road ahead would not be an easy one. \u201cWe need to be clear that our path, the path of renewal, it\u2019s long, it\u2019s difficult, it requires decisions that are not cost-free or easy. Decisions that will not always be comfortable for our party.\u201d<\/p>\n But at the end would be a transformed country, he said, as he sought to position Labour as the agent of change. \u201cWe must never, ever find ourselves defending a status quo that manifestly failed working people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In contrast to Labour\u2019s plan, the path taken by the populist right would lead \u201cto ruin, to chaos, to Britain being poorer in every sense\u201d. He said it was a \u201ctempting path\u201d as it suggested a \u201cmiracle cure\u201d to the country\u2019s problems that did not exist.<\/p>\n In a direct challenge to Farage, he asked: \u201cDo they love our country? Do they want to serve our country \u2013 all of it? Our beautiful, tolerant, diverse country. Or do they just want to stir the pot of division because that\u2019s worked in their interests?\u201d<\/p>\n After a week in which migration has been one of the key issues of debate, Starmer said securing the borders was a \u201creasonable demand\u201d but he hit out at those \u2013 including Farage \u2013 who he said crossed a \u201cmoral line\u201d on the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you throw bricks and smash up private property that\u2019s not legitimate \u2013 that\u2019s thuggery,\u201d he said, arguing that while free speech was a \u201cBritish value\u201d it did not allow people to \u201cincite racist violence and hatred\u201d.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n <\/span>Nigel Farage was described as a \u2018snake-oil salesman\u2019 by the prime minister.<\/span> Photograph: James Manning\/PA<\/p>\n He condemned anyone who believed that people could be British or English based on the colour of their skin, saying: \u201cThat\u2019s racism \u2026 You are the enemy and we will fight you.\u201d<\/p>\n Several cabinet ministers have echoed Starmer\u2019s tougher tone during Labour\u2019s conference. David Lammy, the deputy prime minister, was forced to backtrack after referring to Farage as \u201csomeone who once flirted with Hitler Youth\u201d, in an apparent reference to allegations that emerged in 2013 that the Reform leader sang Nazi songs as a schoolboy. Farage denied the allegations at the time.<\/p>\n Starmer said that Labour was the \u201cpatriotic party\u201d and sought to reclaim the UK\u2019s flags after a summer in which they had become the focus of a culture war. His vision of Britain combined \u201cthe grit of the Lionesses, the swagger of Oasis, the strength of the Red Roses\u201d.<\/p>\n In an echo of Gordon Brown\u2019s 2009 conference speech, Starmer listed his government\u2019s achievements so far, including nationalising British Steel, scrapping zero-hours contracts and extending free school meals.<\/p>\n He announced that he would scrap the New Labour target of having 50% of young people go to university and replace it with an aim of two-thirds doing either a degree or a \u201cgold standard apprenticeship\u201d.<\/p>\n Ministers now want to see at least 10% of young people pursuing higher technical education or apprenticeships that the economy needs by 2040, almost double today\u2019s figure.<\/p>\n Starmer also confirmed plans for an NHS online hospital service for England.<\/p>\n Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester who publicly criticised Starmer\u2019s leadership and economic policy and suggested Labour MPs had been urging him to mount a challenge, left the conference venue before the speech.<\/p>\n In a veiled criticism of Burnham, who said last week that ministers should stop being \u201cin hock\u201d to the bond markets, Starmer accused his critics of a \u201cdesire to avoid reality\u201d. \u201cA Labour party that cannot control spending is a Labour party that cannot govern in our times,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Responding to Starmer with a live broadcast on Tuesday afternoon, Farage vowed to \u201cteach Starmer a lesson next May that British political history will never forget\u201d. He also accused Starmer of threatening the safety of his campaigners because his remarks would \u201cincite and encourage the radical left\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Keir Starmer has warned that Britain faces an era-defining choice between Labour and the populist right, as he launched a scathing attack on Nigel Farage, saying the Reform leader neither \u201cliked or believed in Britain\u201d. In a speech that drew the battle lines for the next general election, the prime minister said the UK stood<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[1206,11177,15170,6048,15171,2395,1346,1347,1060],"class_list":{"0":"post-25076","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-choice","10":"tag-decency","11":"tag-division","12":"tag-eradefining","13":"tag-faces","14":"tag-keir","15":"tag-starmer","16":"tag-warns"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}