UK PRIME MINISTER STRESSES NATIONAL RENEWAL AT PARTY CONVENTION

By Staff Writer

Just one year in power, achieved with a landslide victory, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has warned that the country is “at a fork in the road”.

Giving the keynote address at his ruling Labour Party’s annual conference - the first since it returned to power after 14 years - Mr Starmer spoke of the need for renewal amidst what he termed rising political divisions in the country.

“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, renewal or decline,” Starmer told the Labour Party’s annual conference in Liverpool.

His concerns come at a period of poor poll ratings for the government, which has been hit by a wave of challenges. These include slow economic growth, the resignation of his popular Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over a personal property tax controversy (which forced a major Cabinet reshuffle), and a persistent problem of illegal immigration with record numbers of migrants crossing the channel from France on small boats.

But it’s the rapidly rising right-wing Reform Party that got the brunt of the Prime Minister’s ire, even more than the main opposition Conservative Party which is presently running very low in the polls.

Led by Nigel Farage, considered by many as the father of Brexit (the UK’s exit from the EU), the Reform party is seen as mirroring US President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. Both men are close allies.

Prime Minister Starmer lashed out at Mr Farage, asking, “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.”

He called the Reform party’s tough immigration policies - including scrapping Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) - racist, but later insisted that he was not referring to the party leader or its members.

Mr Farage has since hit back, calling Mr Starmer a weak leader.