By Andrew MacAskill and Elizabeth Piper LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sharply scaled back planned welfare cuts on Friday to quell a rebellion by lawmakers in his governing Labour Party,

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has given way to political pressure and watered down planned welfare reforms to avert defeat by his own party’s lawmakers.

The U-turn, including protecting personal independence payments (Pip) for existing claimants, comes after 126 MPs threatened to vote against the government.