Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made concessions to dissenting lawmakers from his Labour Party on planned welfare cuts, two lawmakers said on Thursday, as the British leader tries to avoid a damaging parliamentary rebellion at a vote next week.

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.

Sir Keir Starmer has announced his latest U-turn: a £1.5bn change of course over his flagship welfare bill. The prime minister last month announced plans to reverse his controversial cuts to winter fuel payments,