By Isobel Dickinson

Copyright dailystar

Sir Keir Starmer blasted Nigel Farage last night as a sneaky con artist salesman and hinted at other snakes in his own party. The Prime Minister used his leadership speech at the Labour Party Conference to blast the Reform UK leader, whose party is ahead in UK-wide opinion polls. He branded him a “snake oil merchant”, a phrase for a conman who knowingly peddles worthless products, and said Farage “doesn’t like Britain”. The Prime Minister also suggested that he was dealing with conmen within his own party off the back of claims Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham was seeking to campaign for the party leadership. He said: “We can all see these snake oil merchants, on the right , on the left. But be in no doubt, conference, none of them have any interest in national renewal, because decline is good for their business. “When was the last time you heard Nigel Farage say anything positive about Britain’s future? He can’t. “He doesn’t like Britain, doesn’t believe in Britain, wants you to doubt it as much as he does. And so he resorts to grievance. “They all do it. They want to turn this country, this proud, self-reliant country, into a competition of victims.” The PM also said the UK stood at a “fork in the road and said the country faced a “defining choice” for its future. He said there was a “fight for the soul of our country” which was as big a challenge as rebuilding the UK from the rubble after World War Two. He said: “It is a test. A fight for the soul of our country, every bit as big as rebuilding Britain after the war, and we must all rise to this challenge. “We can all see our country faces a choice, a defining choice. Britain stands at a fork in the road. We can choose decency or we can choose division.” The comments sparked a war of words, with Farage launching a fightback shortly after the Prime Minister’s speech. In it he claimed the PM was threatening the safety of Reform supporters by branding them racist and said he was putting them at risk from “radical left”. He said: “Now, I don’t normally worry about abuse being thrown at me. I’ve got kind of used to it over the course of the last few years, but to accuse countless millions of being racist is a very, very low blow. “Why? Well, this language will incite and encourage the radical left. I’m thinking of Antifa and other organisations like that. “It directly threatens the safety of our elected officials and our campaigners, and, frankly, in the wake of the Charlie Kirk murder, I think this is an absolute disgrace.” For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters .