Instead, following a huge upheaval in his Downing Street operation, he pumped up the rhetoric – particularly against Farage. One ally of Starmer said he PM was “being true to himself” – a “properly decent person” who was “saying what he thinks”. There is some anxiety within Downing Street about the issue, with one source saying they worried that Starmer’s words would be “twisted” to suggest he was calling all Reform voters racist. Asked if he thought Farage was racist he said: “No, nor do I think Reform voters are racist. “I’m not for a moment suggesting that they are racist.”Others believe Starmer would have been better to focus on attacking Farage on competence.