May’s campaign falls into disarray over social care policy scandal

The election campaign of British Prime Minister Theresa May has fallen into disarray after she announced a U-turn on the Conservative Party’s social care policy.

May made a reversal on her policy on social care costs, strangely branded as the “dementia tax,” but she claimed that “nothing has changed” since her party’s manifesto was published on Thursday.

The prime minister said she made some clarifications about her policy in response to Labour Party leader’s Jeremy Corbyn’s “fake claims.”

“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,” she said on Monday while launching the Welsh Tory manifesto in Wrexham, Wales.

“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 stated.

However, according to The Guardian, Prime Minister May is wrong to say that Corbyn made “fake claims” about the Conservative social care policy.  The newspaper wrote that initially Corbyn got some of the detail of the policy wrong but later on he made valid criticism.

The Conservatives were planning to make people pay for care in their own home unless they have assets of less than £100,000 including the value of their house, according to The Guardian. It created widespread fears among families who said that they could lose their homes to pay their social care costs later in life.

Labour officials warned that the Conservative policy would “leave thousands of the most vulnerable at risk of losing their homes.”

First time in this election campaign, May’s character has become an issue, and at a time when the Conservative lead over the Labour Party has narrowed to single digits in several polls.

In an interview on Monday, May was asked several times why she was not being “honest” about her decision of capping on care costs.

While talking to reporters in Wrexham, May refused to accept she was performing a U-turn. “Nothing has changed, nothing has changed.”

But a BBC journalist bluntly told her: “Your manifesto rejects a cap, it gives a reason why you don’t want a cap. Now you’re going to have a cap. You need to be honest, I would suggest, and tell the British people you’ve changed your mind.”

May replied insisting that she’s being “absolutely honest with the British people about the big challenge that we face. And absolutely honest with them about the need for us to deal with this now, to start fixing it now.”

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According to a new poll, Labour has overtaken the ruling party in Wales, opening a significant 10-point lead about two weeks before the June 8 general election.

The YouGov survey released on Monday showed a massive 16-point shift towards the Welsh Labour, putting it ahead of Tories 44 percent to 34 percent.

This amounts to a major comeback for the party, which was in a disadvantaged position until two weeks ago. According to the same poll, Labour managed to increase its support by 9 percent while Tories lost 7 percent in the same period.

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