International

This is the first major brake Starmer has received from his own party.

Members of Britain’s Labor Party narrowly voted against the government’s decision to limit winter fuel payments for the elderly, a symbolic move that increased pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who supports the cuts to stabilize the economy.

Starmer, who sought to raise spirits at the ruling party’s annual conference with a speech on Tuesday, defended cuts to payments to help elderly people cover fuel bills, saying short-term pain was necessary to stimulate economic growth.

However, delegates attending the party’s conference in the English city of Liverpool voted against the government with a show of hands on Wednesday after a fiery speech from Sharon Graham, leader of ‘Unite’, one of Britain’s largest trade unions.

Amid thunderous applause, Graham said he did not understand “how a new Labor government could cut the winter fuel allowance for retirees but leave the super-rich untouched. This is not what society chose, it is the wrong decision and must be reversed. “

Starmer claims he was forced to make difficult decisions after the previous Conservative government left a £22 billion ($29 billion) black hole in the public finances, a charge the Conservative Party denies.

Asked about the vote, Starmer told GB News: “I understand why Labor colleagues are so concerned about this issue. Conference policy does not determine government policy and we have to make difficult decisions. The reason” What’s really important about this is what we want and we will stabilize the economy.”

However, controversy over the cuts overshadowed the conference and is likely to remain a point of conflict between some unions, Labor supporters and a government focused on reining in spending to meet its fiscal targets.

Graham said fiscal rules are “self-determined,” and added that “the decision to maintain fiscal rules is up to us.”