Labour Party members deal blow to Starmer day after his appeal for unity

Members of Britain's governing Labour Party dealt Prime Minister Keir Starmer a blow on Wednesday, rejecting his decision to cut payments that offset winter heating costs for millions of retirees.

The vote on the final day of Labour's annual conference is not binding, but it's a setback to Starmer's efforts to unite his centre-left party around the contentious measure.

Since winning office in July, Starmer has cautioned that the dire state of the public finances inherited from the last Conservative government means he must make hard choices such as ending the winter fuel allowance, worth between 200 and 300 pounds (USD 262 and USD 393), for all but the poorest pensioners.

Trade unions that are among Labour's funders and allies organised resistance to the cut at the conference in Liverpool, northwest England. They forced a vote on a demand for the decision to be reversed. It was narrowly passed in a show-of-hands vote amid cheers and jeers in the conference hall.

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