British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday called on his Labour Party to stop “navel gazing” and to unite against Reform UK, accusing the rising populist party of pursuing a “racist policy” of mass deportation if it came to power.

With Labour trailing Reform in opinion polls, Starmer opened the party’s annual conference in Liverpool by telling members to focus their energy on defeating Nigel Farage’s movement, not criticising his leadership.

“We have got the fight of our lives ahead of us, because we’ve got to take on Reform. We’ve got to beat them, and so now is not the time for introspection or navel gazing,” he told BBC News. “We need to be in that fight united.”

PM defends stance on immigration

The next general election is not scheduled until 2029, but with Reform enjoying a surge in support, Starmer is seeking to create a more positive narrative after a difficult period in which both his deputy leader and his ambassador to Washington resigned.

The Liverpool conference gives him the chance to rally Labour and redirect criticism from those pressing for his replacement, including Manchester’s mayor, Andy Burnham.

However, Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves face internal pressure to increase spending and loosen self-imposed fiscal rules that require day-to-day expenditure to be balanced with tax revenues by 2029. The government is expected to raise taxes in its 26 November budget in order to stay within these limits.

“The budget is an absolutely critical point of us knowing whether direction is going to change,” said Sharon Graham, leader of the Unite trade union. “We should stop dancing around our handbag and do that (change the fiscal rules). If that budget is essentially nothing ... I think we’ve got a real problem on our hands, because without the money to make the change, then nothing is going to change.”

Criticism from both wings of Labour

While left-wing members attack Starmer for failing to deliver on promises to raise living standards after last year’s election, centrists warn the financial markets could punish the government if it loosens its spending discipline.

Immigration remains central to Reform UK’s platform, one of the public’s top concerns. Starmer directly challenged Farage’s approach:

“It is one thing to say we’re going to remove illegal migrants, people who have no right to be here. I’m up for that,” he said. “It is a completely different thing to say we are going to reach into people who are lawfully here and start removing them ... I do think that it’s a racist policy, I do think it is immoral.”

Starmer faces record-low approval

According to Ipsos polling, only 13% of voters are satisfied with Starmer’s performance, while 79% are dissatisfied — the worst rating for any British prime minister since records began in 1977.

Starmer insisted he was not dismissing criticism and would ultimately be judged on three key measures: whether living standards improve, whether public services become stronger, and whether people feel safe in their homes.

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