LONDON – Keir Starmer drew a furious reaction from Nigel Farage yesterday after accusing him of not ‘liking’ or ‘loving’ Britain. Despite an election probably being years away, the panicked PM used his keynote speech to Labour conference to talk up the threat posed by Reform and carve deep dividing lines.
Arguing that the UK ‘stands at a fork in the road’ and can move towards ‘decency or division’, he told activists in Liverpool to ‘fight’ against the ‘path of decline’.
He tagged Farage an ‘enemy of national renewal’ and suggested he would say anything for popularity – dismissing the idea that the country is ‘broken’. ‘‘When was the last time you heard Nigel Farage say anything positive about Britain? He can’t. He doesn’t like Britain,’’ he said.
Sir Keir delivered vicious barbs at ‘politicians who lie to this country, unleash chaos and walked away after Brexit’. He questioned whether Farage ‘wants the country to fail’. ‘‘Do they love our country? Do they want to serve our country, all of it…? Or do they want to stir the pot of division?’’
In an immediate on-camera response from London, Farage said the attack from Sir Keir ‘will incite and encourage the radical left’. Highlighting the murder of Charlie Kirk in the US, he said the ‘disgraceful’ language ‘directly threatens the safety’ of Reform campaigners.
However, the premier also sounded a tough message that left-wingers must accept ‘uncomfortable’ policies in areas such as immigration to appeal to voters. He nodded to nationalist sentiment by praising flags – wrapping up his address by telling activists awkwardly: ‘‘Fly those flags!’’
Additionally the Labour leader acknowledged the looming spectre of more agonising tax hikes at the Budget in November, saying government must not try to ‘avoid reality’.
In an apparent hint at a fresh bid to curb welfare spending, Sir Keir said: ‘‘A Labour Party that cannot control spending is a Labour Party that cannot govern in our times.’’
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