UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would “fight” those who argue that “English” and “British” are exclusively ethnic or racial terms, warning that anyone claiming foreigners “cannot be English or British because of the colour of their skin” would be opposed “with everything we have.”

“Free speech is a British value, and we have guarded it for centuries, but if you incite racist violence and hatred, that is not expressing concern. It’s criminal.”

He went on to say, “If you say or imply people cannot be English or British because of the colour of their skin… if you say they should be deported, then mark my words, we will fight you with everything we have because you are the enemy of national renewal.”

Starmer made the comments while setting out a broader attack on Reform UK and its leader, Nigel Farage, at the Labour conference in Liverpool on Tuesday, where he framed the political contest as a choice between national renewal and a divisive politics he associated with Farage’s party.

The Prime Minister recently described Reform UK’s proposal to remove indefinite leave to remain (ILR) for some migrants as “racist” and “immoral,” saying it “needs to be called out for what it is.”

Reform UK has proposed changes to immigration rules, including tougher visa requirements and the abolition of ILR; news outlets report the party says the policy would require some migrants to reapply for new visas.

Nigel Farage responded by accusing Starmer of stoking division and endangering his party’s supporters, saying the Prime Minister’s language “will incite and encourage the radical left” and that Starmer should feel “ashamed.”

Responding to Starmer’s comments, Farage said that by labelling his party’s policies as racist, “by implication, Reform supporters, Reform voters, Reform sympathisers are racist too”.

He said, “Yes, if you think we should patrol our borders, you are, by the definition of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, all racists… To accuse countless millions of being racist is a very, very low blow.

“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,” Farage warned.

“Frankly, in the wake of the Charlie Kirk murder, I think this is an absolute disgrace,” he said.

In an additional video on X, Farage said he was shocked by the Prime Minister’s behaviour and now believes Starmer is unfit for office.

“I used to think the Prime Minister was a decent man. Somebody that I could talk to and chat to. We might disagree on worldviews, but I thought he was a profoundly decent human being.

“I am completely shocked at his behaviour. I hope when he wakes up tomorrow morning, he feels ashamed of what he has done. This is a desperate last throw of the dice from a Prime Minister who’s in deep trouble. A Prime Minister who can’t even command the support of half of his own party.”

Farage went on to say, “I now believe he is unfit to be the Prime Minister of our country.”

Rupert Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth and founder of Restor Britain, also weighed in, saying, “Get called racist? Xenophobe? Islamophobe? Far-right? Who cares. Honestly, it doesn’t matter. Trust me. They are now just meaningless words.

“Don’t moan. Don’t bite. Don’t care. Don’t give those words, and those who use them so flippantly, power over you. This is the way.”

Starmer’s speech also drew a barrage of criticism online, with opponents and native Britons accusing him of erasing the ethnic dimension of “English” and “British” by reducing the terms to mere markers of citizenship.

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Commentators have long argued that a distinction should be made between someone of English ancestry and someone who holds English or British citizenship, warning that conflating the two risks making the terms ethnically meaningless.

They noted that unlike identifiers such as “Indian,” “Asian,” “Nigerian,” or “Chinese,” which denote biological origin, “English” and “British” are increasingly being treated as merely geographic or civic labels tied to residence or legal status rather than heritage.