Labour MP Pat McFadden has faced an intense grilling on GB News over the Government's latest attack on Nigel Farage, after the Prime Minister used his keynote speech to launch a fresh attack.

Questioned by host Ellie Costello on the language used by Sir Keir Starmer and several key ministers, the Work and Pensions Secretary suggested that the backlash by the Reform UK leader is a "distraction" from his policies.

During the Labour Party conference, Sir Keir, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood all took their own aim at Mr Farage, claiming his policies are "racist".

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy also suggested the Reform leader "flirted with Hitler Youth when he was younger", before backtracking on the comments.

Ellie Costello challenged Pat McFadden on Labour's 'language' after repeated attack on Nigel Farage and Reform UK

Pressed by Ellie on the mounting attacks on Mr Farage, Mr McFadden was asked if he believes Labour is "dragging politics into the gutter".

The Labour MP responded: "I think some of the protests around this over the last 24 hours are really trying to disguise focusing on the actual policy Reform doesn't want to defend.

"In the last week you had the Prime Minister's speech yesterday setting out his stall here at the conference in Liverpool, and then you had that press conference last Monday where it was completely direct the public to see that Reform wanted to say to people who'd come here legally, worked here legally, pay taxes here legally, that they were going to tear up their settled status and threaten to deport them.

"That's not the British way to break your word like that, it really matters."

Highlighting the cause for "legitimate debate" on migration, Mr McFadden added: "There'll always be a legitimate debate in this country about migration in one way or another, but to break a word to people who've come here legally like that is not the British way.

"And that's why the Prime Minister is drawing a line and saying we would never do that."

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Hitting back at Mr McFadden, Ellie warned that "language matters", no matter the debate: "When you're using words like racist, like Nazis, you look back at Sir David Amess and Jo Cox and you think about Charlie Kirk over in the States.

"Nigel Farage has said it's inciting violence against Reform UK, what do you say to that?"

The Labour MP told GB News: "No one wants to incite that against anyone. I'm sure if you look through his own statements over the years, you'd find some pretty big inflammatory ones too.

"There's going to be a big debate about the future of the country over the next few years, a really big debate, and it's going to be an important debate, and people are going to say strong things and we have to focus on which direction that we want the country to go in.

"That's not something we're going to shirk from or walk away from."

Asked by host Eamonn Holmes why Sir Keir is "picking a fight" with Farage now, Mr McFadden explained: "What I'd say is, if we had ignored this this week at the conference where we're here debating for three days, people would be saying, 'do you guys not know what's happening out there? Have you not looked at the polls? Have you not looked at who's ahead in the polls?'

Mr McFadden told GB News that Keir Starmer is 'railing against those who tell us Britain is broken'

"Being ahead in the polls brings with it scrutiny, it brings with it scrutiny of your policy.

"And when the policy is wrong, as I believe the policy they announced last week was, then we will take it to task and we will expose it, and it's our job to do that with our political opponents."

Defending the Prime Minister further, Mr McFadden concluded: "If you look at his speech yesterday, there were two words that struck me about it when I was sitting in the hall listening to it.

"One was a sense of fight back after some difficult stories coming into the conference about resignations and so on earlier in September.

"And the other was this strong belief in Britain about the things that make us great, about the cultural creativity, the community spirit, the things that really make Britain great.

"And he's railing against the idea that everything's broken, nothing works, everything's terrible.

"Of course there are challenges, and we are addressing them through some of the policies, but this is a great country, and we shouldn't follow people who always tell us Britain's broken."