Rattled UK PM May forced into 'dementia tax' U-turn after poll lead halves

British Prime Minister Theresa May was forced to publicly backtrack on one of her most striking election pledges today after plans to force elderly people to pay more for their social care halved her party's opinion poll lead in just a few days. In what amounts to her biggest misstep of the campaign to date, May set out plans on Thursday to make some elderly people pay a greater share of their care costs, before hastily announcing on Monday there would actually be a limit. Questioned at an election event, she grew increasingly irritated at suggestions she was backing down. Six opinion polls published in the past three days have all shown a contraction in the Conservative Party's lead over the opposition Labour Party by a range of 2 to 9 percentage points, though all indicate May will still win the election. May said opponents such as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had tried to scare the elderly by spreading "fake claims" about her plan to transfer more of the cost from taxpayers to recipients who can afford to fund care themselves. Dubbed the 'dementia tax' by opponents, the proposal had raised concerns that some seniors might see their houses sold off to pay for care, rather than...