Starmer warns UK Labour in 'fight of our lives' as party meets

Britain's ruling Labour party gathered for its annual meeting on Sunday, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer battling to convince nervous lawmakers that he can lead the "fight of our lives" against the insurgent hard-right.

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy attend the Labour Party's annual conference in Liverpool, Britain, on Sunday.

(REUTERS)

Although the ex-lawyer led Labour back to power in July last year after 14 years in opposition, scandals, policy missteps and plummeting poll ratings have already raised doubts about his future.

The four-day gathering in Liverpool, northwest England, comes amid chatter about a possible leadership challenge and follows two recent high-profile departures from government in the wake of embarrassing revelations.

The conference, which ends on Wednesday, takes place with Labour lagging well behind the upstart anti-immigrant Reform UK party, led by anti-EU firebrand Nigel Farage, in national surveys.

Starmer said Sunday that the party has "got the fight of our lives ahead of us, because we've got to take on Reform. We've got to beat them.

"The effects will be there for generations," he told the BBC. He also called Reform's plan to make migrants reapply for new visas with tougher rules "racist", adding it would "tear our country apart".