About turn! Theresa May performs retreat over social care cap plans Theresa May executed a dramatic U-turn over her plans to shake up the funding of social amid evidence that the […]

Theresa May executed a dramatic U-turn over her plans to shake up the funding of social amid evidence that the furore over the so-called “dementia tax” was eroding Conservative support.

“Nothing has changed, nothing has changed” Theresa May The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

Just four days after the party’s manifesto ditched David Cameron’s proposals for a cap on individuals’ care bills, she announced that she supported an “absolute limit” on the amount they would pay.

The about-turn, which came 24 hours after ministers were insisting the policy would not be altered, led to accusations that the Tory general election campaign was in chaos.

It followed a backlash among the party’s candidates and a fall in Conservative support in opinion polls taken after the manifesto launch.

Speaking in Wrexham, Mrs May announced a cap would be included in the consultation on long-term social care costs which would be held by a re-elected Tory government.

Corbyn ‘scaremongering’

But she repeatedly refused – both at the event and in an interview on Monday night with the BBC’s Andrew Neil – to be drawn over the level at which the cap would be fixed.

She sought to blame Jeremy Corbyn for her move, accusing him of resorting to “fake claims, fear and scaremongering” over the impact of her plans.

And she criticised journalists who asked about a “dementia tax” for “using terms that have been used by the Labour Party to try and scare people in this country”.

The Prime Minister was visibly angry when reporters in Wrexham said the move made her appear “weak and wobbly” rather than “strong and stable”.

She also close to losing her composure when she was asked whether other manifesto commitments would be altered, responding: “Nothing has changed, nothing has changed.”

Mrs May insisted the principles of her policies remained “exactly the same”.

She said: “What we have done, which other parties have signally failed to do, is to recognise the challenge that we face, to respect the needs and concerns of the British people and to provide a long-term plan for sustainable social care which means that elderly people in this country won’t have to worry about how their social care will be paid for in the future.”

Accusation of ‘chaos’

But Mr Corbyn turned her much-repeated catchphrase against her as he said: “This isn’t strong and stable, this is chaos.”

The Labour leader said: “I’m not playing on anybody’s fears. I’m expressing the fears that a lot of people have and I suggest the Prime Minister, instead of blaming me, should look to herself and look to her team and look to the policy, or lack of policy, that’s she’s put forward.”

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, mocked “May’s manifesto meltdown”, but said it would changed nothing for families concerned about the bill for care for elderly relatives.

“Her heartless dementia tax remains in place,” he said.