Starmer sets out plan to take on Reform UK in ‘fight for soul of our country’

Sir Keir Starmer said the UK stands at a “fork in the road” as he sought to unite Labour and the country behind him against Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

The Prime Minister told Labour’s party conference in Liverpool the country faced a “defining choice” for its future.

There was a “fight for the soul of our country” which was as big a challenge as rebuilding the UK from the rubble after the Second World War.

He said: “We 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.”

The Prime Minister, who went into the party conference trailing Reform in the polls and with his leadership facing questions, said Mr Farage “doesn’t believe in Britain” and wants to create “a competition of victims”.

Sir Keir said Mr Farage “doesn’t like Britain” and “doesn’t believe in Britain”.

“We can all see these snake oil merchants, on the right, on the left, but be in no doubt, conference, none of them have any interest in national renewal, because decline is good for their business,” he said.

“When was the last time you heard Nigel Farage say anything positive about Britain’s future?

“He can’t. He doesn’t like Britain, doesn’t believe in Britain, wants you to doubt it as much as he does.

“And so he resorts to grievance. They all do it. They want to turn this country, this proud, self-reliant country, into a competition of victims.”

The Prime Minister acknowledged the UK had faced social problems dating back to the 2008 financial crisis and the years of austerity that followed it, leading into the Brexit vote and the years of wrangling with the European Union.

The “complacent” approach of relying on globalisation, imported labour and ageing infrastructure had been exposed in the years following the crash, he said.

Promising a more “muscular state” prepared to intervene, he said economic growth was the key to addressing deep-rooted problems.

Just hours before Sir Keir’s speech, official figures showed the UK economy grew by just 0.3% between April and June, marking a steep fall from 0.7% in the first three months of the year.

Sir Keir said securing growth was “the defining mission” of his government, to “improve living standards and change the way we create wealth”.

He said: “Growth is the pound in your pocket, it is more money for trips, meals out, the little things that bring joy to our lives, the peace of mind that comes from economic security.

“But it is also the antidote to division – that’s the most important aspect of national renewal.”

In an attempt to put education – including vocational qualifications – at the heart of his approach, Sir Keir said Labour will scrap the target of seeing 50% of young people go to university and replace it with an aim of two-thirds doing either a degree or a “gold standard apprenticeship”.

The speech comes after a turbulent period which has seen unrest outside asylum hotels and the continued flow of migrants across the English Channel in small boats.

The Prime Minister said there is “a moral line, and it isn’t just Farage who crosses it”.

Sir Keir said: “Controlling migration is a reasonable goal.

“But if you throw bricks and smash up private property, that’s not legitimate – that’s thuggery.”

Free speech was a “British value” but did not allow people to “incite racist violence and hatred”, he added.

Sir Keir continued that “this party is proud of our flags” but “if they are painted alongside graffiti telling a Chinese takeaway owner to ‘go home’, that’s not pride – that’s racism”.

And anyone who argues that “people who have lived here for generations” should now be deported is “an enemy of national renewal”, he said.