UK PM Starmer Calls For European Cooperation To Overcome Right Winged Groups

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. (Wikimedia Commons /Simon Dawson / No. 10 Downing Street)

JAKARTA - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed concern over the growing threat from far-right UK groups, calling on progressive political parties across Europe to work together to face common challenges.

Speaking on Wednesday during a visit to Germany, PM Starmer said populism would be defeated by making people feel better, pledging life in England would improve before the end of his first term in power.

"We must stay alive in England to face the challenges of right-wing and populism and nationalism," he told reporters.

"There are a number of reasons that worried me, in part because of what happened in the UK, partly because of what you can see happening in other European countries, including in France and Germany," he continued.

Britain was hit by anti-immigrant riots earlier this month, after a deadly knife attack on children's dance classes followed by false claims, reinforced by people on the right wing, that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.

British police have arrested more than 1,160 people for riots involving violence, arson, and looting, as well as racist attacks targeting Muslims and migrants.

Starmer's centre-left Labor Party won a landslide victory in elections in early July, in contrast to the recent vote acquisition by the extreme right wing in Europe. However, antiimmigration unrest has created its first major crisis.

PM Starmer promised to deal with extreme right-wing and "populism snake oil and nationalism," saying he would be honest about the country's problems and how to solve them.

However, this task becomes more difficult because it is faced with a life cost crisis and worsening of public services.