Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has launched a blistering counter-attack against Prime Minister Keir Starmer, accusing him of “obsessive attacks” and claiming Labour had branded millions of voters racist in what he called an “absolute disgrace” following the party’s annual conference in Liverpool.
Mr Farage delivered his response within minutes of Labour’s conference ending on Tuesday, 30 September, claiming he had “never before seen one individual so dominate” a rival party’s gathering after both the Prime Minister and multiple Cabinet ministers targeted Reform UK during the four-day event.
The Reform UK leader accused Sir Keir and his Cabinet of “descending into the gutter” because they could not defeat Reform “on the arguments,” insisting his party would continue to push for deportations of illegal migrants, restricting benefits to British citizens only, and the removal of foreign criminals.
“I don’t normally worry about abuse being thrown at me. I’ve got kind of used to it over the course of the last few years, but to accuse countless millions of being racist is a very, very low blow,” Mr Farage said in his address to the nation.
The confrontation comes as Reform UK has been consistently topping British polls for weeks, capitalising on discontent over the cost-of-living crisis and rising concern over immigration. According to polling firm Ipsos, only 13 per cent of voters are satisfied with Starmer’s government, whilst 79 per cent are dissatisfied, marking the worst score of any prime minister since the firm started collecting data in 1977.
Starmer’s Direct Challenge
During his keynote speech at the Liverpool conference on Tuesday, the Prime Minister had taken direct aim at Mr Farage, asking: “When was the last time that you heard Nigel Farage say anything positive about Britain’s future?
“He can’t. He doesn’t like Britain. Doesn’t believe in Britain. He wants you to doubt it as much as he does. So he resorts to grievance,” Sir Keir told delegates.
The Prime Minister had earlier called Reform’s immigration policies “racist” and “immoral”, specifically targeting their proposal to reach into people who are lawfully in the UK and start removing them.
Reform’s Controversial Immigration Plans
On 22 September, Reform UK proposed abolishing Indefinite Leave to Remain status, which settled migrants can acquire generally after between five and ten years of legal residence in Britain. Under Reform’s proposal, migrants would instead have to apply for a five-year renewable visa with a substantial salary threshold and higher English language requirements.
The policy could result in as many as one in ten Londoners finding their immigration status at risk, with those failing to secure new legal status facing deportation. YouGov polling shows the public is divided on the proposal, with 64 per cent supporting ending the granting of ILR for new arrivals, but 58 per cent opposing removing it from those who already hold the status.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood used her conference speech on Monday to announce Labour’s own tightening of immigration rules. Ms Mahmood outlined a series of new conditions migrants would have to meet to qualify for indefinite leave to remain, stating she would do “whatever it takes” to secure Britain’s borders.
Safety Concerns and Political Violence
Mr Farage invoked the recent assassination of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk in his criticism of Labour’s language, warning it could incite violence against Reform officials and campaigners.
“Why? Well, this language will incite and encourage the radical left. I’m thinking of Antifa and other organisations like that. It directly threatens the safety of our elected officials and our campaigners, and, frankly, in the wake of the Charlie Kirk murder, I think this is an absolute disgrace,” he said.
Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot on 10 September 2025 at Utah Valley University. In the UK, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage paid tribute to Kirk in the House of Commons, saying he mourned the loss of a friend.
Electoral Threat and Political Stakes
Mr Farage claimed the Prime Minister’s conference attacks were “a desperate last throw of the dice from a Prime Minister who is in deep trouble” and who “can’t even command the support of half of his own party.”
The Reform UK leader declared he was “not a vindictive person” but vowed his party would “teach Keir Starmer and the Labour Party a lesson” in the Welsh, Scottish and London elections next May.
“We will teach Starmer a lesson next May, that British political history will never forget. I am now, as a result of this week, of the abuse that has been heaped upon our supporters and our voters, more determined than ever. Don’t underestimate that,” he warned.
Pressure is mounting on Starmer with many predicting Labour will perform badly in local and regional elections in May. A potential leadership rival has emerged in Andy Burnham, the ambitious mayor of Manchester, who warned that the party needed to change direction quite radically.
Broader Political Context
Starmer has spent the past 13 months facing criticism for what many see as a series of policy missteps, including a deal with France called “one in, one out” for asylum seekers that has failed to stop record numbers of small boat arrivals, with 50,000 arriving since he took office.
The Prime Minister had urged his party to unite for what he called the “fight of our lives” against Reform UK. In his Tuesday speech, Starmer framed the choice facing Britain as one between “decency or division” and “renewal or decline”.
Mr Farage responded by agreeing Britain stood at “a big fork in the road” but painted a starkly different picture of the choices ahead.
He is a human rights lawyer, he will bow down to foreign courts and to outdated treaties, and he has no idea of the division that open borders have caused within our communities, or indeed the anger and the sense of unfairness that people feel over two-tier policing and two-tier justice,” the Reform leader said.
The escalating confrontation between Labour and Reform UK represents a fundamental shift in British politics, with the traditional Conservative opposition struggling to maintain relevance. The Tories have performed so badly in their 14 years in office that voters have purposely forgotten they exist, leaving British politics increasingly dominated by a Starmer versus Farage dynamic.
As both parties prepare for crucial local elections in May 2025, the battle lines have been clearly drawn between Starmer’s vision of “national renewal” and Farage’s populist challenge, with immigration policy and national identity at the heart of the political divide.
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