Nigel Farage has accused Keir Starmer of inciting violence against Reform UK following his accusations that the party’s immigration policy is “racist”. Mr Farage delivered a damning response to the Prime Minister’s annual conference speech, which repeatedly took aim at Mr Farage and Reform.
Sir Keir branded Mr Farage “the enemy”, claiming he doesn’t love Britain and wants to see the country fail in order to continue his march to Downing Street. The Prime Minister accused Mr Farage of peddling the “politics of grievance”, which is trying to turn Britain into a place where you look at your neighbours and no longer see them as “fellow partners in the project of Britain.” Hitting back, Mr Farage said Labour’s conference had been “extraordinary”, pointing to his dominance of all the ministers’ speeches.
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Mr Farage accused the Prime Minister of going into the gutter with his allegations of racism (Image: Reform UK)
“It has been obsessive. Whether it’s the Home Secretary, Health Secretary, it is a constant attack on me and what I stand for.
Mr Farage said that the Prime Minister had given up attack Reform’s arguments, and as a result had decided to “descend into the gutter.”
“Let us be clear, Reform want illegal migrants deported from our country… Reform want the benefit system to be for British citizens only, not for foreign born nationals. Reform want foreign criminals removed from our country ASAP.
“Labour say this policy is racist and immoral, and by implication that Reform supporters, voters and sympathisers are racist too.
Mr Farage says he doesn’t personally worry about personal abuse, but too accuse millions of being racist “is a very low blow.”
“This language will incite the radical left… it directly threatens the safety of our elected officials and campaigners.”
He cited the recent murder of Charlie Kirk, adding: “I think this is an absolute disgrace.”
Keir Starmer accused Nigel Farage of not loving Britain (Image: Getty)
The Reform UK leader says that he used to think that while he disagreed with the Prime Minister, he was a decent human being. But now says he’s “shocked” by his behaviour and feels “ashamed by what he’s done”.
Mr Farage says the ‘racism’ attack was 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 from half of his party”.
He now concludes that the Prime Minister is “not fit” to be leading the country.
He also hit back at the claims made in Keir Starmer‘s conference speech that Mr Farage doesn’t love Britain. In retaliation, he pointed to his 30-year campaign to make Britain a self-governing country, because he always believed the best people to govern Britain were the British people themselves.
By contrast, Sir Keir Starmer spent year fighting to see Britain governed by Brussels, the UN and foreign courts.
“His total level of denial over broken Britain was quite extraordinary. We all know the roads are clogged, we all know you can’t get a GP appointment, we all know crime is out of control… Britain is broken and it needs fixing.”
Mr Farage concluded that Labour’s conference proved Britain will continue declining.
He set out that the next election will be between Keir Starmer, a “human rights lawyer who will bow down to foreign courts and outdated treaties with no idea of the division open borders have caused in our communities”, and himself.
“The reason we’re leading in the polls is this country has had enough of a failing, gutless political class. It wants real change.”
Mr Farage said Reform will teach Sir Keir and Labour “a lesson” next May at the local elections, a lesson that British political history “will never forget”.
The man on course to be next Prime Minister said he had been left “more determined than ever” following this Labour conference.
Nigel Farage Accuses Keir Starmer of Inciting Violence Against Reform
Nigel Farage has accused Keir Starmer of using inflammatory language that could encourage violence against Reform UK, escalating an already bitter political confrontation between the Prime Minister and the Reform leader.
The dispute followed Starmer’s keynote speech at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, where the Prime Minister launched a sustained attack on Reform and its policies. Farage responded in a video statement, describing Starmer’s language as dangerous and arguing that it could encourage extremist elements on the political left to target Reform politicians and campaigners.
Starmer rejected the accusation when asked whether his comments risked inflaming tensions. He said they did not. The government subsequently described Reform’s suggestion that the Prime Minister was inciting violence as offensive and unfounded.
The argument has highlighted the increasingly direct competition between Labour and Reform, as well as wider concerns about the language used by politicians in an increasingly polarised political environment.
Farage’s accusation
Farage’s response came shortly after Starmer’s conference speech.
The Prime Minister had presented the next few years as a political struggle over the country’s direction and said Labour needed to confront Reform directly. He argued that Reform’s approach represented a fundamentally different political direction from the one Labour wanted to pursue.
Farage responded by accusing Starmer of deliberately demonising Reform.
He said the Prime Minister’s rhetoric could “incite and encourage the radical left” and argued that this created a potential threat to the safety of Reform politicians and campaigners.
The accusation was subsequently taken further by Reform’s head of policy, Zia Yusuf.
Speaking to Sky News the following morning, Yusuf claimed that Starmer and his Cabinet had embarked on a campaign designed to incite violence against Farage. He said that if anything happened to the Reform leader, there would be people who would hold the Prime Minister responsible.
Those are allegations made by Reform rather than established findings about Starmer’s intentions.
Starmer rejects the claim
Starmer was asked directly whether he believed his conference speech risked inflaming tensions.
He rejected the accusation.
The Prime Minister argued that the dispute was fundamentally about political policies and the direction in which Britain should move.
The government’s position was subsequently reinforced by Home Office minister Mike Tapp, who described the suggestion that Starmer was inciting violence as “offensive” and “ridiculous”. He said there was no possibility that the Prime Minister or other MPs wanted harm to come to Farage or anyone else in Parliament.
The exchange therefore produced two sharply different interpretations.
Reform argued that the language used by Starmer and his ministers could encourage hostile behaviour towards the party.
Labour argued that it was legitimate to criticise Reform’s policies forcefully and that doing so should not be interpreted as encouraging violence.
The immigration policy at the centre of the dispute
The confrontation was closely connected to Reform’s immigration proposals.
Reform had recently announced plans to change the rules governing indefinite leave to remain, potentially affecting people who had been legally resident in Britain for many years.
Starmer and senior Labour politicians strongly criticised the proposal.
Starmer described the policy as racist and immoral, while arguing that the proposal could affect people who had a legal right to remain in Britain.
Reform strongly rejected that characterization.
Farage argued that Labour’s language was not simply criticism of a policy but an attack on the people supporting his party.
This disagreement became particularly intense because the Labour conference provided a national platform for Starmer and his ministers to challenge Reform directly.
Several senior Labour politicians repeatedly referred to Reform during their conference speeches.
According to The Independent, Starmer referred to Reform three times and Farage four times in his keynote address, while Wes Streeting and Rachel Reeves also made repeated references to Reform in their conference speeches.
Starmer’s decision to confront Reform
The Prime Minister has made clear that he believes ignoring Reform would be a mistake.
Speaking to ITV News after his conference speech, Starmer said he regarded the political contest between Labour and Reform as a defining struggle and argued that simply ignoring Farage’s party would not make its support disappear.
That approach represents a significant change in emphasis for Labour.
Rather than treating Reform as a peripheral protest party, Starmer has increasingly presented it as a major political competitor.
The strategy carries obvious political consequences.
By attacking Reform directly, Labour gives greater prominence to Farage and his policies. At the same time, Labour believes that failing to challenge Reform could allow the party’s arguments to go unanswered.
The confrontation at the conference therefore reflected a broader strategic decision by the government.
Farage’s response
Farage’s reaction demonstrated that Reform intends to answer Labour’s attacks aggressively.
In his video response, he described Starmer’s remarks as a “moral disgrace” and objected particularly to the description of Reform’s immigration policy as racist.
He argued that it was unfair to associate large numbers of people who support Reform with racism because they backed tighter immigration controls.
The disagreement illustrates an important distinction in the debate.
Labour says its criticism is directed at a specific policy rather than every person who votes for Reform.
Indeed, Starmer later clarified that he did not believe Farage himself or Reform supporters were necessarily racist, while maintaining his criticism of the party’s immigration policy.
Farage, however, argued that repeatedly using terms such as “racist” could have consequences for the safety of Reform activists.
That disagreement over political language became almost as significant as the original argument about immigration.
Concerns about political violence
The dispute also occurred against a wider backdrop of concern about political violence.
Britain has experienced serious attacks on politicians in recent years, including the murders of MPs Jo Cox and David Amess.
The assassination of US political activist Charlie Kirk in September 2025 further intensified discussion about political rhetoric and the potential consequences of increasingly hostile political discourse.
Farage referred to those wider concerns when arguing that political leaders should be particularly careful about their language.
However, critics of Reform’s position have disputed the suggestion that Starmer’s criticism constituted incitement.
The former independent adviser on political violence, Lord Walney, said Farage’s response was excessive and argued that it was not credible to suggest Starmer’s comments would encourage political violence from the radical left.
The disagreement demonstrates why the distinction between political criticism and incitement is important.
Strong language can be controversial without necessarily amounting to an instruction or encouragement to commit violence.
The security question
The argument was further complicated by concerns about Farage’s security arrangements.
Reports in September 2025 said that his taxpayer-funded protection had been reduced, with Reform supporters subsequently helping to fund additional private security. The exact arrangements became another point of political controversy.
Reform raised questions about the reduction in protection and suggested that the political environment made security particularly important.
The government rejected suggestions that the Home Office had personally decided to remove Farage’s protection.
Mike Tapp said decisions about parliamentary security were made by an independent parliamentary authority rather than the Home Office.
That distinction became important because the security debate was taking place at the same time as the political argument over Starmer’s language.
A rapidly escalating Labour-Reform contest
The confrontation illustrates how central Reform has become to Labour’s political strategy.
Starmer has increasingly positioned Labour as the alternative to Reform, arguing that the country faces a choice between the government’s programme and what he describes as Reform’s politics.
Farage, meanwhile, has used Labour’s attacks to argue that the established political system is attempting to discredit his party rather than address the concerns behind its growing support.
Both sides therefore have an interest in portraying the other as a significant political threat.
The result is an increasingly confrontational political environment.
That does not mean every disagreement should be interpreted through the language of political violence. But it does demonstrate why the words used by senior politicians can attract intense scrutiny.
A dispute that goes beyond one speech
The row between Farage and Starmer is ultimately about more than a single conference address.
It reflects a broader struggle over immigration, national identity, political language and the future direction of British politics.
Labour believes it needs to confront Reform openly rather than allow the party to dominate the political debate without challenge.
Reform argues that Labour’s attacks go beyond legitimate policy criticism and risk stigmatising both its politicians and supporters.
The evidence available does not establish that Starmer intended to encourage violence against Reform.
What is established is that Farage and senior Reform figures made that accusation, while Starmer and his ministers rejected it.
The episode is another sign of the increasingly direct competition between the two parties.
As immigration remains one of the most divisive issues in British politics, both Labour and Reform are likely to continue challenging each other’s policies and rhetoric.
The political debate will therefore remain intense.
The challenge for politicians across the spectrum is to maintain that debate without allowing disagreement over policy to become personal hostility or encouragement of violence.
For now, Farage’s accusation has added another dramatic chapter to the growing Labour-Reform confrontation, while Starmer has made clear that he has no intention of avoiding that political battle.