We're in fight with Reform for soul of the country

Sir Keir Starmer has warned that Labour is in "a fight for the soul of the country" with Reform UK as he launched a counterattack against the "lies and division" of Nigel Farage's populism.

- David Maddox, The Independent

Keir Starmer

The prime minister challenged the world's centre-left parties to take on the likes of Reform, who he said uses division to bolster support. It was his latest bid to thwart the party he considers his greatest threat at the next election.

It came as a new poll suggested that Reform UK would be on the brink of an outright majority if the next election were held today, putting Mr Farage into Downing Street, while panicking Labour MPs are urging Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to challenge Sir Keir as leader.

On the eve of a make-or-break Labour conference at the weekend, the prime minister unashamedly insisted that Labour and other social democratic parties "need to stand up for our values" of "decency and honesty".

Addressing an audience at the Global Progress Action Summit in London, attended by Canadian PM Mark Carney, Australian PM Anthony Albanese, and Iceland's PM Kristrun Frostadottir, Sir Keir warned that they needed to be unafraid in standing up to populism and refused to accept that defeat is inevitable. And he declared the next election will be an "open fight" between Labour and Reform as the party looks to repair the damage inflicted by the Tories.

He said: "We're going to face a very different election next time to any of the elections we fought in the United Kingdom for a very, very long time.