"Starmer urges leaders to challenge populist falsehoods at London conference"

Progressive Leaders Must Challenge Populist Falsehoods, Says Starmer

Progressive politicians must directly counter the false claims spread by populists and oppose what Keir Starmer called an "industrialised infrastructure of grievance." The remarks, delivered in a speech, included indirect criticism of rhetoric used by Donald Trump.

Speaking at the Global Progress Action summit in London—where he also discussed plans for mandatory ID cards—Starmer disputed the portrayal of London as a declining and unsafe city, an idea frequently pushed by the US president.

Later, alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Australian leader Anthony Albanese, Starmer acknowledged that policies such as tariffs, championed by Trump, were a reality that had to be accepted.

"People may have their own views on tariffs, but they exist," Starmer said. "President Trump believes in them, applies them, and we must recognize that. It reflects his deep convictions about reshaping the economy."

In his address, Starmer argued that recent election victories for himself, Carney, Albanese, and others showed that progressive, center-left politics was not in decline. "However," he continued, "social democrats must now confront certain challenges—and frankly, some of the lies that have taken hold in our societies."

"These false narratives don’t just distort perceptions of politics but also misrepresent our nations, communities, and cities in ways far removed from reality," he added.

Speaking to the international audience, Starmer quipped that attendees exploring London ahead of the summit "may have noticed this city isn’t the chaotic wasteland some claim."

Trump has often labeled London as lawless and deteriorating. In a recent speech at the UN, the US president inaccurately suggested that Mayor Sadiq Khan, who is Muslim, sought to impose Sharia law—an unfounded claim.

Starmer cited these remarks, without naming Trump directly, as an example of the misinformation being spread. "Every country has its own version of this—places, institutions, and communities depicted in ways completely detached from the truth," he said. "It’s a manufactured system of resentment, built through misleading narratives that are bleak, hostile, and demonstrably false."

He pointed to a large far-right protest in London two weeks prior as evidence of the most dangerous consequences of such divisions, condemning what he described as an effort to incite a "violent struggle for the nation."

"You don’t need deep historical knowledge to see where that kind of hatred leads," the prime minister warned.

Starmer has faced backlash from some lawmakers for what they see as a delayed response to the rise of far-right movements, including Reform and its mass deportation proposals.