Keir Starmer claimed at a meeting of his political Cabinet on Tuesday that Nigel Farage’s Reform UK wants to appease Russia’s Putin and ‘inject bile’ into communities across the country
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK wants to “inject bile” into communities, Keir Starmer has warned as he issued a rallying call to his top ministers.
As he renewed his assault on the right-wing outfit, the Prime Minister said his Cabinet must keep a relentless focus on the cost of living and the choice facing voters. Setting out the choice, he told them: “A Labour government renewing the country or a Reform movement that feeds on grievance, decline and division.
“They want a weaker state, they want to inject bile into our communities, they want to appease Putin. This is the fight of our political lives and one that we must relish.”
Mr Starmer also urged his Cabinet during their first meeting of 2026 not to lose their nerve amid whispers over his leadership of the party ahead of key elections in England, Scotland and Wales in May. Facing dire national opinion polls, many expect Labour to suffer a bruising night, which could fuel questions about Mr Starmer’s future in Downing Street.
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The PM told a political meeting of the Cabinet – without civil servants present – that he does not “underestimate the scale of the task”. He added: “I have no doubt about this team. Governments do not lose because polls go down. They lose when they lose belief or nerve. We will do neither.
Mr Starmer also told his Cabinet that cost of living must be the top focus of the Government – and it mustn’t be derailed by turbulence abroad. At the first Cabinet meeting of the year, the Prime Minister said the Government is “on the side” of families who are struggling with the cost of living – and warned his ministers they will be judged at the next election on whether “people feel better off”.
Lucy Powell, who was sacked from Cabinet by Mr Starmer in September, also attended the political Cabinet meeting in her capacity as Deputy Leader. She thanked the PM and his team for “embracing me as Deputy Leader” and said that she relished “helping to tell the story of whose side we are on”, No10 said.
The attempt to focus on domestic matters comes as Donald Trump’s US continues to threaten Greenland and with Mr Starmer set to join world leaders in Paris for a meeting of Ukraine’s allies. Mr Starmer said: “Yes, there’s a world of uncertainty and upheaval, but tackling the cost of living remains and must remain our focus.”