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.

Sir Keir Starmer came under fire for Labour's "humiliating U-turn" on welfare reforms. In a late-night climbdown, the Government offered backbench Labour rebels a series of concessions in an effort to head off the Prime Minister's first major Commons defeat since coming to power.