Theresa May has done a complete U-turn on a key pledge in the Tory manifesto released last week.
Speaking in Wrexham to launch the Welsh Tory manifesto, the Prime Minister said would set an “absolute limit” on how much people would have to pay for social care. The cap, according to May is simply a clarification to the “dementia tax”.
“Since my manifesto was published, the proposals have been subject to fake claims made by Jeremy Corbyn. The only things he has left to offer in this campaign are fake claims, fear and scaremongering,” said Theresa May in Wrexham.
“So I want to make a further point clear. This manifesto says that we will come forward with a consultation paper, a government green paper. And that consultation will include an absolute limit on the amount people have to pay for their care costs.” she added.
The original policy in the manifesto stated that people would have to pay all of their own care costs, apart from their last £100,000 of assets, which the state would allow them to pass on as an inheritance.
Coined the “dementia tax” by the Labour party but also adopted by right-wing media, highlights how someone suffering from Alzheimer’s, which requires a heavy reliance on social care, would be less able to pass on their home to children than someone with an illness such as cancer, which is treated by the NHS.
When asked by a journalist if announcement led to a “manifesto of chaos”, May responded: “Let’s be clear we have not changed the principles we set out in our manifesto. What we have done is clarified that in the green paper which will be a consultation document we will have an upper limit. But the basic principles remain the same,”
“Nothing has changed, nothing has changed,” she added, with a raised voice.
The announcement from the Prime Minister led to claims of a “manifesto meltdown” from the Lib Dems, while Labour said it represented “chaos, confusion and indecision”.