UK leader faces unease in his Labour Party after a winter fuel allowance is cut for millions
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has won a parliamentary vote on a contentious decision to cut a payment that helps millions of pensioners pay winter heating bills
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced a battle of nerves with his Labour Party on Tuesday, winning a parliamentary vote on a contentious decision to cut a payment that helps millions of pensioners pay winter heating bills — but not ending unease about it among his lawmakers.
Starmer says the decision to remove the winter fuel allowance, worth between 200 and 300 pounds ($262 and $393) a year, from all but the poorest retirees is needed because of the dire state of the public finances left by the previous Conservative government.
But the decision to hit people on fixed incomes in one of the government’s first economic moves since winning a landslide election victory in July has caused disquiet in the center-left Labour Party. Seventeen Labour lawmakers backed a call to postpone the cut.
“Tough decisions are unpopular decisions,” Starmer told his Cabinet on Monday, telling ministers that “we have to fix the foundations of our economy and that means tough choices.”
