SIR Keir Starmer has denied his comments put Reform activists at risk after Nigel Farage claimed his conference speech “incited violence”.
The PM said Reform boss Nigel hated Britain and branded him an “enemy” in a gloves-off Labour conference speech on Tuesday.
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Reform has pledged to axe Indefinite Leave to Remain and force migrants to reapply for visas after five years if it wins power, with Sir Keir branding the plan “racist”.
But Farage hit back and accused the PM of inciting violence against Reform UK MPs and campaigners by accusing him of racism.
The Reform leader said Sir Keir should feel “ashamed” of his comments and said that his words “will incite and encourage the radical Left”.
Speaking to Kate McCann on Times Radio this morning, Starmer strongly opposed the view that his comments had put Reform activists at risk.
The PM replied: “No, it’s not. What I was doing in the speech was being absolutely crystal clear that at the next election there is a different battle to be had, a different divide in our politics and it’s a really important divide for our country as to who we are.
“The divide will be Labour taking forward a patriotic national renewal programme where we fix our problems, change our country for the better.
“I am proud to serve the whole of our country, our beautiful, tolerant, diverse country and bring the whole country together.
“Or Reform and the toxic division and divide that will come that will rip our country apart.”
Asked if there was someone who was better placed to fight the battle with Reform, whether he’d stand aside, he said: “Last year in July, the Labour Party won a landslide victory.
“I led them to that victory. I understand that.
“And I therefore intend to carry out the mandate we were given at that election, which is to change the country.”
Meanwhile, when asked about his request for peoples’ patience he said: “So I’m not saying wait five years. We are already changing the country.
“But what I am saying is it was never going to be possible to fix all of the problems of the last 14 years in 12 short months.
“And I didn’t say that at the election that we’d be able to do so. I said it would take time.”
It comes after another poll this week showed Mr Farage continuing to steal a march on Downing Street.
The More in Common survey said Reform would win a staggering 373 seats if an election were held tomorrow – handing the Reform UK leader a Commons majority of 96, bigger than Boris Johnson’s 2019 landslide.
But Sir Keir vowed to “fight with every breath I have” to stop Nigel Farage this week.
Pitching himself as a true patriot, he said be believed in a Britain with “the grit of the Lionesses, the swagger of Oasis, the strength of the Red Roses”.
Farage fired back, warning Labour would be “taught a lesson” in next year’s election.
The clash lit up Labour’s four-day gathering in Liverpool, putting the fight between the two men at the centre of British politics.
Sir Keir said Britain now faces a “defining choice” as big as rebuilding from the rubble of World War Two.
He told party delegates: “Britain stands at a fork in the road. We can choose decency or we can choose division.”
