The major wobble left her enduring her hardest day in the election campaign so far.
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The PM also wore tough-looking shoes during an interview
Insisting the plans were still to be fully fleshed out after the election, Mrs May announced: “That consultation will include an absolute limit on the amount people have to pay for their care costs.”
Despite the major change, senior Tory aides insisted it was not a U-turn. Mrs May argued “nothing has changed” because the core principles of her overhaul remained.
Instead, the furious PM heaped all the blame for her clarification on false claims by the Labour leader.
Mrs May, wearing a chunky neck chain, bracelet and steel toe caps on a day of bruising political encounters, said: “Since my manifesto was published, the proposals have been subject to fake claims made by Jeremy Corbyn.
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The PM said Corbyn made fake claimsCredit: EPA
“The only things he has left to offer in this campaign is fear and scaremongering.
“Jeremy Corbyn wants to sneak into No10 by playing on the fears of older people.”
The PM added: “Our social care system will collapse unless we make some important decisions now about how we fund it. We are the only party in this election prepared to face up to the reality of our ageing society and offer a long-term solution.”
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The PM insisted ministers would get “the views of charities, the views of others” first.
But her move significantly hikes the costs of the new policy to the taxpayer.
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The PM's latest announcements have split the Tory partyCredit: PA:Press Association
Former Treasury chief Lord Macpherson was among several economists to warn it would mean “higher spending and higher taxes”.
Veteran elections academic Sir David Butler even dubbed it the biggest U-turn “in the 20 general election campaigns I’ve followed”.
It also left Tory MPs split down the middle. While some told of their relief after taking a pummelling on doorsteps over the policy, others insisted the climbdown was not necessary.
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The People's Assembly's poster criticised the PMCredit: Rex Features
One Tory MP said he was “more bothered how incompetent she and her team look”.
A minister said: “They panicked. It created a great fuss but won’t have any long-term effect.”
Another frustrated Tory MP added: “We didn’t have to do this. People were beginning to understand what the policy was all about”. Mrs May’s claims of no change were also undermined when it emerged her ministers ruled out a cap as the manifesto was launched.
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The Tories had promised a limit during the 2015 election. But only last Thursday, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt had said: “We’re being completely explicit that we’re dropping it.”
Labour leaped on the PM’s wobble and mocked her with her own campaign catchphrase. Election co-ordinator Ian Lavery said: “Strong and stable Prime Minister? More like a weak and wobbly one.”
The Lib Dems unveiled figures families could still be hit hard even with a cap.
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Jeremy Hunt said last week the Tories were dropping the limitCredit: PA:Press Association
The embarrassing climbdown overshadowed Mrs May’s launch of the Tories’ Welsh manifesto in Wrexham, North Wales. She was hoping to refocus the campaign back on Brexit after the backlash over social care, blamed for halving her poll lead over Labour.
It was her latest foray into Labour territory in her bid to turn swathes of Britain blue.
But a poll last night suggested the Tories’ hopes of replacing Labour as the biggest party in Wales were fading.
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