British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave way to political pressure on Friday, watering down planned welfare reforms to avoid defeat by his own party’s lawmakers. It’s the latest forced U-turn for a center-left government caught between conflicting goals of cutting spending and improving public services.

Keir Starmer will mark his first year in office in eight days’ time. With a majority of 165, he should be master of all he surveys, able to dictate the course of both his government and the country. But the prime minister’s humiliating climbdown on his flagship plan to cut the welfare budget shows his authority is now in tatters.

By Andrew MacAskill and Elizabeth Piper LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has sharply scaled back planned welfare cuts to quell a damaging rebellion by lawmakers in his governing Labour Party.