Starmer denies being 'obsessed' with Nigel Farage as he lays into Reform's 'politics of chaos'

Sir Keir Starmer accused Farage of “not liking” Britain and that Reform's politics are one of "grievance and chaos.”

He also stated that the Clacton-on-Sea MP does not want to fix the small boats crisis - but wants to "feed off" the issue instead for political gain.

In an exclusive interview at the conference, Nick Ferrari pressed Sir Keir on the claim made by Mr Farage, questioning whether the PM had an "obsession with him."

In response, the Prime Minister said: "He says a lot of things that I don't agree with.

"I am concerned to make the argument and I will, on behalf of the country that I love, this tolerant, beautiful, diverse country where we pull together as a country.

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"I am deeply concerned about Reform because I think they will toxically divide our country and rip it apart.

"And I'm up for that fight because I think it is the fight of our times. It goes to the soul of who we are as a country."

"But you mentioned Mr Farage five times, almost as much as you did your late father," Nick continued.

"You are mildly obsessed, aren't you?"

The Prime Minister replied: "No, not at all."

He went on: "There is a political divide the like of which we have not seen in this country.

"You know, we traditionally have Labour versus the Tories. That is not the fight next time around. This is not peculiar to the United Kingdom. You can see it all across Europe.

"The centre right parties are withering on the vine as the Tories are. It is a different fight. It goes to a more fundamental issue, which is who are we as a country?

"It's really important that I go out and fight for and defend for the country that I love, that I am a patriot of."

Nick also quizzed Sir Keir on his drive to smash the gangs, pointing out that 400 people arrived in the UK on small boats on Monday.

He responded saying the government was "working really hard" to bring the numbers down, adding that they were passing a borders bill to give law enforcement "more power at the border".

"What did Nigel Farage do? He voted against it. We've got a returns deal with France. Means we can return people to France.

"What does Farage say he'll do? Says he'll pull that down.

"We want to have ID cards so that you cannot work in our economy illegally.

"What does Farage do? He says he doesn't want it common factor here.

Sir Keir added that Mr Farage doesn't want to fix the issue of small boats crossing the Channel, as it makes his "political currency goes down."

"He doesn't want to fix the problem. He wants to feed off it. That's the difference," he went on.

What did Sir Keir Starmer say in his Labour conference speech?

• "Britain," he said, "Stands at fork in the road - choose decency or division, renewal or decline." He said the fight for the "soul of our country" is needed as much as rebuilding after the war.
• On this subject, he called out Nigel Farage for being negative about Britain and its future. On flags, he said he is "proud," of the St George's Cross, but also said it is time to "unite,"
• In Gaza, he strongly supported the efforts to end the fighting, in light of Donald Trump coming up with a plan on Monday, and called for all sides to unite and restart hope for a two-state solution,
• On the budget, he said that tough decisions have been made, but said they have been "Labour decisions,"
• Revealed an ambition for two-thirds of students to go to university or receive gold standard apprenticeships,
• Called out racism about immigration, but added that the crisis must be solved,
• Ended by saying "Britain is not broken."