British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has given way to political pressure and watered down planned welfare reforms to avert defeat by his own party’s lawmakers.

The U-turn, including protecting personal independence payments (Pip) for existing claimants, comes after 126 MPs threatened to vote against the government.

Labour party opponents of the UK government’s £5 billion ($6.8 billion) cut to disability benefits have secured enough support to block the plan, setting up a high-stakes test of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership less than a year into office.