LONDON, Sept 10, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces an
early test of his young premiership on Tuesday when lawmakers vote on a
controversial plan to end fuel benefits for millions of pensioners.

The proposed cuts have sparked anger among some MPs within the ruling Labour
party and set up the first flashpoint with its union backers since Starmer
took office in July.

The furore highlights the challenge facing Britain's centre-left leader as he
tries to fix an economy he says the previous Conservative government broke
while also keeping supporters onside.

Labour announced in July that it would means-test the winter fuel allowance,
meaning 10 million pensioners will no longer receive help with their energy
bills during the colder months.

Starmer says "tough choices" are necessary to help close a o22 billion ($29
billion) "black hole" in the public finances that Labour claims they
inherited from the Tories.

"I know they're unpopular, I know they're difficult," he told the BBC in an
interview aired on Sunday, defending the axing of the fuel payments for
better-off pensioners.

Starmer, a former lawyer, is spending much of his first months in power
blaming the Conservatives for a dire economic inheritance and laying the
groundwork for possible future tax rises.

Last month he warned that the budget in late October -- Labour's first since
it was last in power 14 years ago -- would be "painful".

Starmer has asked Britons to "accept short-term pain for long-term good" but
is already coming under pressure to offer the country a less gloomy outlook.

Two major unions have called on him to reverse his government's decision to
scrap the universal winter fuel payments, worth up to o300 for some elderly
people.

Unite boss Sharon Graham accused Labour of opting to "pick the pocket of
pensioners" while leaving the richest "totally untouched".

Meanwhile, some 17 Labour MPs have signed a motion put forward by one of its
newest members to delay implementing the cut.

A spokesperson for Starmer insisted Monday that his top team was united
behind the plan and there would be no softening of the proposal.

The government will win Tuesday's vote easily due to Labour's whopping 167-
seat majority in the House of Commons but a significant rebellion or number
of abstentions would pose a headache for Starmer.

He suspended seven of his own MPs in July after they backed a motion
demanding the removal of the two-child limit on benefits introduced by the
previous Conservative government.