Keir Starmer used his Labour conference speech to launch a blistering attack on Nigel Farage, accusing him of peddling 'snake oil' and claiming he 'doesn't like Britain'. The prime minister said the country faced a choice between Labour's national renewal or 'division and decline' under Farage's Reform UK.
In a speech described by the Guardian as his 'most effective' since becoming leader, Starmer said Farage and other politicians offered 'quick fixes' and 'miracle cures', but in reality lead to 'ruin' and 'chaos'. He argued that Farage's migration plan made him the 'enemy of national renewal'.
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy retracted a claim he made earlier that Farage had 'once flirted with Hitler Youth'. Lammy told the BBC he was 'not going to play the man' but playing the ball, and would leave the public to judge. The claim referred to an alleged 1981 letter from a teacher.
On policy, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to lift the two-child benefit limit in the upcoming budget, a key demand from Labour MPs. Meanwhile, Starmer announced a new 'online hospital' service to be introduced by 2027, aiming to transform NHS care.
