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Theresa May has made a climbdown over one of the Tory manifesto ’s top policies - after just four days.

In a humiliating speech, the Tory leader said her social care policy will now include a total cap on lifetime care costs after it was branded a "dementia tax".

But today wasn't the first time Mrs May has been forced to make a screeching U-turn.

In fact the Tory leader has had ten humiliating climbdowns in her first ten months as PM.

From opposing Brexit to hanging her Chancellor out to dry on proposed changes to National Insurance - Mrs May has built a reputation for acting in haste and repenting on national TV.

So we’ve looked at her ten most embarrassing U-turns since she came to Downing Street.

1. Calling an election

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After she took office last summer Mrs May spent nine months insisting their wouldn’t be an election because it would distract her from her battle to get the best possible deal for Brexit .

That was until April 18, when the PM shamelessly U-turned and announced she would be holding an election on June 8.

In fact Mrs May promised SEVEN times that she wouldn’t be calling an election until 2020.

Mrs May first denied she would call an early poll if she became PM when she was campaigning for the job, which she got without being elected.

Then as recently as March 20 her official spokesman categorically ruled it out, insisting: “There isn’t going to be one.”

2. National Insurance

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In Theresa May's first full Budget as Prime Minister, her Chancellor Phillip Hammond said the government would raise National Insurance for self-employed workers.

The policy was panned as a White Van Tax and broke a Tory manifesto pledge to never raise taxes.

Just five days later - after Tories suggested they wouldn’t back the £2 billion hit on the self-employed - Mrs May was forced to make make a screeching U-turn while on a trip to Brussels.

Her relationship with Mr Hammond has never really recovered, fuelling rumours she’ll ditch him after the election.

3. Brexit

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Although she has tried to keep in quiet since - and wasn’t exactly screaming it from the rooftops at the time - Theresa May wanted Britain to Remain in the EU.

The Home Secretary, Theresa May said that Brexit would risk "Britain’s future. Our influence around the world. Our security. And our prosperity".

In what is perhaps her biggest U-turn of all the PM is now pursuing a Hard Brexit that will see us leave the single market.

She has even been accused of using the shared security Britain enjoys as part of the EU as a bargaining chip in the negotiations.

4. Taking in refugee children

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Last year, ministers accepted the Dubs amendment saying they would offer a route to safety for unaccompanied children from the Jungle migrant camp in Calais.

The original (but non-binding) commitment was proposed as 3,000 children.

But after accepting just 350, Theresa May’s government decided not to accept any more.

The move was slammed by the scheme’s architect Lord Dubs who said: "It would be a terrible betrayal of his legacy if as a country we were unable to do more than this to help a new generation of child refugees."

The government then U-turned again and said it would take 480 children because it had made a mistake.

5. Hinkley Point

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Early in her premiership Theresa May set off widespread speculation that she was going to cancel the controversial Hinkley point deal with French energy company EDF.

She announced a pause in the nuclear deal shortly after taking office.

She said she was worried about the effect the deal would have on UK’s energy market and security.

But then - barely months after she told the public she was worried about the deal - she signed it, on basically the same terms agreed by David Cameron .

6. Lists of foreign workers

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After Home Secretary Amber Rudd suggested she would be asking companies to publish lists of their foreign workers, Theresa May was forced into yet another cringeworthy climbdown.

The Tories had suggested firms should "be clear about the proportion of their workforce which is international" the policy was dead in the water.

But the scheme was slammed by business, trade unions, the press, the public and compared to Hitler’s Mein Kampf, so Theresa May ditched it.

7. Workers on boards

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During the Tory leadership campaign Theresa May said she would speak for workers and work for a fairer Britain - and she’d start by nicking Labour’s policy to put workers on company boards.

It would force companies to give their workers say in decision-making.

Then she became Prime Minister, and after some conversations with big business it was reported that the policy had been binned.

Anyone hoping the PM would do a full 360 was disappointed when last week the Tory manifesto said these "workers" can actually be existing directors.

8. Energy price cap

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During the last election Theresa May and the Tory frontbench claimed that Labour’s plans to introduce an energy price freeze were nothing more than Marxism.

That was until last month when it was announced that the Conservatives were introducing a near identical policy which would cap energy bills.

So was it still Marxism? No. Why? Because they said so.

9. The European Convention on Human Rights



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Few pieces of paper are as loathed by the Tory Party as the ECHR, which allows people to take their government to court if they feel it has violated their human rights.

Separate from the EU, we aren’t leaving the convention or the court which upholds it during Brexit .

So that’s why Theresa May has previously said Britain must leave the treaty.

In fact, before the referendum last summer Mrs May said we should leave the treaty regardless of the result.

So where does it feature in the Tory manifesto? It doesn’t.

10. Oh yeah, that social care thing

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Theresa May made a humiliating climbdown today over her 'dementia tax' manifesto pledge - just four days after announcing it.

The Tory leader was forced to water down the policy after a huge backlash, including from her own candidates, with the general election still 17 days away.

The policy would more than quadruple the amount of assets someone can have before having to pay for social care, to £100,000.

But it would also make thousands more people count their home towards their assets - forcing many to sell up after they die.

Today, in a huge concession, the Tory leader said the policy will now include an absolute cap on the amount people have to pay over their lifetime.

But she refused to confirm what the level of that cap will be as she brazenly and falsely claimed: "Nothing has changed!"