A SCHEME to force the elderly to sell their homes and take away people’s inheritances is oddly unpopular with voters, Tory strategists have noticed.

Theresa May’s team is puzzled by the negative reaction to their plan to make Britons pay massive old-age care bills yet avoid raising more tax from companies and rich people.

A Conservative spokesman said: “We’d assumed pensioners would love to sign over their homes to mercenary private companies who see them as cash cows waiting to be sucked dry.

“I fail to see what’s so terrible about targeting people when they’re old and making them go through loads of stressful legal hassle.

“The worst thing is all these grasping children wanting to keep their inheritances. You won’t find anyone in the Conservative party expecting free money from their parents.

“We now intend to have a full policy consultation, by which I mean quietly ditching it while distracting everyone with some bullshit like Corbyn not respecting the army enough.”