PM taking on Reform in fight 'for the 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.

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The Prime Minister told Labour's party conference in Liverpool that 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”.

“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.

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.