Theresa May continued to deny making a U-turn on her social care policy on Monday night, after enduring her most difficult day of the election campaign so far.
In a tough primetime interview with Andrew Neil on BBC One, May appeared uncomfortable as she was interrogated about the abrupt decision to backtrack on a central part of her policy manifesto, promising to cap the costs of social care for the elderly in a bid to contain a growing backlash against what's already been dubbed her "dementia tax".
"Andrew, we have not rewritten the manifesto," May told the BBC. "The principles on which we have based our social care policy remain absolutely the same."
Earlier on Monday, just four days after the initial policy was announced, the prime minister responded to a weekend of negative headlines and narrowing opinion polls by announcing that a consultation on the plans would include an "absolute limit" on what people had to pay for their social care. May repeatedly insisted this was merely a "clarification" to the original proposal, even though the cap did not appear in the manifesto.
"Nothing has changed,” the prime minister said. “Nothing has changed. We are offering a long-term solution for the sustainability of social care for the future.”
On the defensive for the first time since calling the election a month ago, the Conservative leader appeared peevish at a speaking event in Wrexham, a Tory target seat, as she batted away persistent questions from reporters about whether she had undermined her own claim to provide "strong and stable leadership".
The questions continued on Monday night, when May sat down for a one-on-one interview with Neil. May grimaced as Neil described the manifesto plan as "half-baked" and urged her to "be honest and tell the British people you've changed your mind".
"This must be the first time in modern history that a party has actually broken a manifesto policy before the election," Neil said.
May stuck to her talking points, insisting there had been no U-turn and that the backlash against the policy was the fault of "scaremongering" by Jeremy Corbyn.
Earlier in the day, May had accused the Labour leader of making “fake claims” about her social care plans. Labour was falsely claiming that “families would lose their homes” as a result of the social care reform and she was setting the record straight by clarifying how it would work, the prime minister insisted.
Labour did jump on the policy after Thursday, portraying it in advertisements, social media postings, and interviews as part of a three-pronged attack on pensioners — along with the means-testing of winter fuel allowances and the end to the "triple lock" on state pensions. But the phrase "dementia tax" appears not to have originated with Labour. Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator, the conservative magazine, said it was one of his writers, Will Heaven, a former Ministry of Justice speechwriter, who coined the term.
In a bruising press conference, the PM was accused by journalists of cynically backtracking.
In her most bruising press conference since the campaign began, May was accused by journalists of cynically backtracking after seeing that the policy had gone down poorly with elderly voters.
One described May's policy platform as a "manifesto of chaos". Another asked if she had "buckled under pressure", and suggested May was now introducing a cap in a "cynical attempt to stop voters leaving you in droves".
Michael Crick, of Channel 4 News, said it was unprecedented for a political party to do a U-turn on its manifesto before an election. Crick contrasted May with Margaret Thatcher, who famously declared she was "not for turning".
Clearly irritated by the line of questioning, May shook her head repeatedly and insisted the substance of the policy remained exactly the same, and that she was merely issuing a clarification.
Sir David Butler, the psephologist who appeared for decades on TV as an election hight expert, tweeted: "In the 20 general election campaigns I've followed, I can't remember a U-turn on this scale."
In the 20 general election campaigns I've followed, I can't remember a U-turn on this scale - or much that could be called a U-turn at all.
In their manifesto, the Conservatives said they would require individuals who need care to pay for it from the value of their home, with only the last £100,000 protected. The policy sparked a backlash over the weekend, with anecdotal evidence suggesting it had gone down badly with voters on the doorstep in the Conservatives’ traditional heartlands.
Opinion polls taken since the manifesto launch in Thursday showed Labour closing the gap, in some polls to within 9 points, although the Conservatives still had a healthy lead. Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and UKIP jumped on the policy, and the term “dementia tax” began to stick. The Bow Group, a Conservative-supporting think tank, described it as “the biggest stealth tax in history” and predicted there would be a huge backlash from Tory voters when they realised the implications of the policy.
Damian Green, the work and pensions secretary, was sent out on The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday to defend the policy, insisting that the Conservatives would stick to it. He did not mention that the changes would be accompanied by a cap on absolute costs.
By mid–Monday morning it was clear party leaders were rattled by the reaction. News of a reversal emerged from a source that will have irritated May: A tweet by George Osborne, the former chancellor, who she sacked from cabinet and is now editor of the Evening Standard newspaper.
“U-turn coming on social care,” Osborne tweeted. “There will be a cap. Read today’s @EveningStandard for the details.”
U-turn coming on social care. There will be a cap. Read today's @EveningStandard for the details
Not long after that, May took the stage in Wales, where she was scheduled to launch the party’s pitch for Welsh voters. It is another area where the Conservatives have traditionally lagged behind Labour but were hoping this time to make significant inroads on the back of May’s appeal to “ordinary working” voters.
May sought to turn the campaign back to a straight choice between her and Corbyn, who she attacked as incompetent and potentially dangerous, “a man willing to collaborate with separatists”.
May accused Corbyn of trying to “sneak over the line” by misrepresenting her manifesto as meaning families would lose their homes to pay for social care. “That is shameful. And it is a shameful abdication of responsibility,” May said. “I want to put an end to Jeremy Corbyn’s fake claims.”
“My manifesto is honest and upfront about our challenges,” May added.
Drastic action needs to be taken to pay for the ageing population, May said, and it should not fall to younger generations to pay for it through rising taxes. Her manifesto included the “beginning of a solution to social care” that would mean vulnerable elderly people would be able to get care and still have £100,000 to pass on to their children.
A green paper setting out the social care proposals would include an “absolute limit on what people will need to pay for their care,” said a Conservative press release on Monday, clarifying the manifesto. It did not say what the absolute limit would be.
Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: "May's manifesto meltdown changes nothing. As Theresa May has made clear herself, nothing has changed and her heartless dementia tax remains in place."