Theresa May forced into ‘dementia tax’ U-turn by Jeremy Corbyn

Theresa May promised ‘the first ever proper plan to pay for – and provide –social care’ in the party’s manifesto. Four days later, that plan has now changed. The Prime Minister has said that there will, after all, be a cap on the amount people have to pay for the cost of their care. So what made May change her mind? Jeremy Corbyn, according to the PM. May said that ‘since my manifesto has been published, my proposals have been subjected to fake claims made by Jeremy Corbyn’. The reaction to the policy, May suggested, meant that the government would ditch the manifesto plan.

The Labour leader doesn’t get a lot of credit (not least from the PM, who is constantly saying how ‘weak’ he is), but on this issue the Labour leader’s criticism appears to have worked. May appeared to indicate that Corbyn’s peddling of ‘fake claims’ led to the U-turn. But if May is referring to Corbyn’s branding of the policy as a ‘dementia tax’, she need not point the finger at her rival.