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Angry voter confronts campaigning British PM

British Prime Minister Theresa May was confronted by an angry voter over welfare cuts Monday as she made a rare public walkabout ahead of the June election.

British Prime Minister, and leader of the Conservative party, Theresa May (R) reacts as she talks with a shopper during an election campaign walk about around Abingdon Market near Oxford, north-west of London, on May 15, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Justin TALLIS

British Prime Minister Theresa May was confronted by an angry voter over welfare cuts Monday as she made a rare public walkabout ahead of the June election.

The woman, who gave her name as Cathy, said she had learning difficulties and challenged May over changes to state handouts for disabled people.

“I can’t live on £100 (118 euros, $129) a month!” she said.

May, who has been accused of avoiding the public in the campaign for the June 8 vote, tried repeatedly to answer Cathy but was interrupted.

“The fat cats keep the money and us lot get nothing,” Cathy said in the Oxfordshire market town of Abingdon, west of London.

May responded by saying that “we’ve got a lot of plans” and the goal was to ensure welfare payments are “focused on those who are most in need”.

Some shoppers stopped to shake the prime minister’s hand during the 11-minute visit, and she posed for pictures.

One man told her to “keep it up”, while May was also told she was the “best of a bad bunch”, to which she responded: “I’ll take that as flattering.”

The prime minister called the snap vote in a bid to increase her parliamentary majority ahead of Britain’s complex talks to leave the European Union.

Opinion polls give her Conservatives a double digit lead over the main opposition Labour party.

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