UK leader faces unease in his Labour Party after a winter fuel allowance is cut for millions

Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — 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. But he faces unease about it among his Labour Party lawmakers. Starmer says the decision to remove the winter fuel allowance from all but the poorest retirees is needed because of the dire state of the public finances left by the previous Conservative government. Starmer easily won Tuesday’s vote but dozens of Labour lawmakers backed the move grudgingly or deliberately abstained. Starmer says “we have to fix the foundations of our economy, and that means tough choices.”