22 May 2017

Not so strong and stable?

The BBC comments on Mrs May's latest u-turn, modifying the proposals for social care in England:
Suddenly, only four days after the Tory manifesto was published, Theresa May has added one rather crucial proposal to her social care plan - a limit or a cap to the amount of money one individual could be asked to pay.
She is adamant that she is not budging on her principles, and was clearly irritated by questions after her speech that said she was backtracking.
But the manifesto did not include the notion of a cap, and just yesterday ministers publicly rejected such an idea.
One senior minister told me "we always knew we were going to need to give protection to those with very high care costs".
They said the prime minister sees trying to fix the social care system "as a big, big deal and she is prepared to use political capital to do it".
But having to clarify the manifesto within days creates a whiff of panic.
And I rather doubt that the addition of an unspecified cap will go very far towards appeasing those opposed to the plan.  Further concessions on the way?

This is what happens when party leaders do not think things through and do not adequately consult their colleagues.  It might be described as a failure of leadership ...

 

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