Starmer’s Latest U-Turn Risks £3 Billion Hit and More Tax Rises

Keir Starmer backed down to a rebellion within his own Labour party over a planned £5 billion ($6.9 billion) cut to disability entitlements, in a costly U-Turn that dents his authority and leaves his chancellor struggling to avoid tax hikes.

The prime minister’s government agreed late Thursday to soften the blow of a sweeping welfare overhaul that had been intended to persuade more people back to work and off benefits, making changes that Ruth Curtice, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation think tank, estimated would cost £3 billion a year, more than half the original savings.

The about-turn is politically ...