Theresa May waters down 'dementia tax' in extraordinary U-turn after poll lead slashed

Humiliating climbdown comes after fierce protests about the huge care costs that pensioners would still face

Theresa May has performed an extraordinary U-turn by watering down her "dementia tax", just four days after making it the centrepiece of her election manifesto.

A clearly flustered Prime Minister announced the Conservatives would pledge to introduce a cap on lifetime care costs, following widespread protests that more families would be forced to sell the homes of pensioners paying for their care.

The seemingly unprecedented reversal on a clear manifesto pledge comes after she threw out plans for the cap just last Thursday, insisting it was not necessary to protect older people from catastrophic care costs.

But the measure was dubbed a “dementia tax”, because the homes of sufferers would need to be sold to pay their bills, after their deaths, after the commitment to a cap on overall care costs of around £72,000 was dropped.

For the first time, it would include pensioners who own their properties who receive care in their own homes - while cancer patients, for example, treated in hospital, receive free care.

Ms May announced the hugely damaging U-turn as she launched the Welsh Conservatives’ manifesto, in Wrexham.

However, she refused to say at what level the cap might be said - underlining the state of panic and the last-minute nature of the U-turn. Facing her toughest questions on the campaign trail, the Prime Minister was accused by reporters of being "weak and wobbly" and of having published a "manifesto of chaos".

She also faced accusations that she had undermined her claim to be the tough leader to take Britain through the Brexit negotiations, having "buckled" so quickly when under fire.

But Ms May refused to admit she had performed a U-turn - despite rejecting a cap four days ago - telling her audience: "Nothing has changed, nothing has changed."

The Prime Minister insisted she was “clarifying any doubt about our social care policy and the family home” – repeatedly accusing Jeremy Corbyn of making “fake claims” about it.

“These are good and sensible plans – they provide the beginnings of a solution to social care without increasing taxes on younger generations,” she insisted.

Confirming the U-turn, Ms May added: “That consultation will include an absolute limit on the amount that people have to pay for their care costs.”

It was not clear whether the rethink would specifically ease the impact on pensioners receiving care in their own homes – or how it would be paid for.

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, seized on the Prime Minister’s claims that the “principles’ of her policy were intact, saying: “May's manifesto meltdown changes nothing.

“As Theresa May has made clear herself, nothing has changed and her heartless dementia tax remains in place.

"This is a cold and calculated attempt to pull the wool over people's eyes. Theresa May still wants to take older people's homes to fund social care.”

Andrew Gwynne, Labour’s election co-ordinator, branded the Prime Minister “weak and unstable”, adding: “She is unable to stick to her own manifesto for more than four days.

“And by failing to put a figure for a cap on social care costs, she has only added to the uncertainty for millions of older people and their families.

“You can’t trust the Tories - if this is how they handle their own manifesto, how will they cope with the Brexit negotiations?”