Labour in 'battle for soul' of UK with Reform, PM says

Sir Keir Starmer has said his government is in "a battle for the soul of the country" with Reform UK, as he set out new measures to tackle illegal migration.

During a speech announcing a new digital ID scheme, the prime minister said the "defining political choice of our times" would be between the centre-left and the "politics of predatory grievance".

He suggested left-wing politicians had been "squeamish" when talking about illegal immigration, but argued parties could not succeed without securing their borders.

Sir Keir said he wanted the run up to the next election to be "on open fight between Labour and Reform", which has pulled ahead in national polls over recent months.

Sir Keir was addressing the Global Progress Action Summit in London, attended by left-leaning politicians including the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

During his speech the prime minister attacked "lies" that are being told about Britain and mocked figures who sought to portray London as "the wasteland of anarchy".

His comments come only days after US President Donald Trump claimed that London had "changed" and would "go to sharia law" as part of an ongoing feud with the capital's Labour mayor Sadiq Khan.

Sir Keir argued "it is now time for social democrats to confront directly some of the challenges and some of the lies that have taken root in our societies".

Speaking to delegates from across the world, Sir Keir said: "There are versions in all of your countries where places, institutions, communities are portrayed in a way that is a million miles from reality, a sort of industrialised infrastructure of grievance, an entire world, not just a world view."

The PM said there was "a battle for the soul of this country now as to what sort of country do we want to be".

He added: "Because that toxic divide, that decline with Reform is built on a sense of grievance, grievance politics, identifying something real for sure, but relying on the problem existing in order for their politics to persist."

A Reform UK spokesman said: "For decades the British people have been betrayed by both Labour and the Conservatives. People have voted election after election for lower taxes and controlled immigration, instead both party's have done the opposite.

"The public are now waking up to the fact Starmer is just continuing the Tory legacy of high taxes and mass immigration."

Green Party Leader Zack Polanski argued Sir Keir was using immigration as a distraction from other issues facing the country.

"The truth is, politicians have talked about little else for decades and almost always in the most toxic, dehumanising way possible," he said.

"These comments are lapped up and regurgitated on a near-daily basis as talking points without any real balance."

Addressing recent protests, Sir Keir criticised the "poisonous belief" that there is a "violent struggle" for the nation coming.

He said the belief that there was "a coming struggle, a defining struggle, a violent struggle for the nation, for all of our nations" was "on full display" in London just under two weeks ago.

Speaking over video link at the "Unite The Kingdom" rally organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson earlier this month, tech billionaire Elon Musk criticised "uncontrolled migration" and suggested "violence is coming".

Sir Keir said: "You don't have to be a great historian to know where that kind of poison ends up, and you could just feel it in a language that is naked in its attempt to intimidate."

It was not "careless or accidental" but part of a strategy to "draw a dividing line between elites and the people", he added.

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