Theresa relaunches campaign with vow on domestic violence
THERESA May will today attempt to relaunch the Tory election campaign amid fears Labour could be about to take the lead in opinion polls.
The Prime Minister will return to the campaign trail with a promise to protect the child victims of domestic violence before she takes part in her first major television showdown with Jeremy Corbyn.
Recent opinion polls have shown the Tory lead over Labour slipping to as little as five points, with party chiefs privately voicing concern they may even be overtaken. Last night a Tory source told the Daily Mail: ‘ We fully expect to fall behind Labour in a poll in the coming days. It will happen.’
In south-west London this afternoon Mrs May will unveil proposals to appoint a domestic violence commissioner to stand up for victims and hold the police and criminal justice system to account. Longer sentences will also be introduced for offenders found to have harmed children.
The Prime Minister will say: ‘We will launch a relentless drive to help survivors find justice and increase the number of successful prosecutions.’
The Tories yesterday played down claims there have been rows among Mrs May’s top team over plans in the manifesto to reform social care.
Last Monday, after days of controversy, she adapted the proposals to include a cap on the costs individuals could face in their lifetime.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon yesterday dismissed as ‘Westminster tittle tattle’ reports that Mrs May’s two chiefs-of-staff, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, had been divided on the manifesto.
He told ITV’s Peston On Sunday: ‘No, this is Theresa May leading our party. We’ve put into the policy now some additional reassurance because of the scaremongering of Labour, further reassurance that people will not lose their home, they will not lose all of their savings. But yes, some people will be asked to make a contribution to raising the quality of social care.’
Home Secretary Amber Rudd told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘The Prime Minister has said yes, there will be a cap. We will have a green paper to make sure that we set it at the right level and we consider all the other alternatives.’
A clutch of polls yesterday showed the Tory lead shrinking as June 8 approaches. An ORB poll for the Sunday Telegraph had them down two points in the past week on 44 per cent, just six ahead of Labour on 38 per cent (up four).
In the Sunday Times, a YouGov poll put the Tories seven points ahead on 43 per cent ( unchanged since a similar poll on Friday), with Labour down two on 36 per cent.
An Opinium poll for The Observer found the Tory advantage had fallen from 13 points to ten over the past week, with Mrs May’s party on 45 per cent (down one) and Labour 35 per cent (up two).
A ComRes survey for the Sunday Mirror and Independent showed the gap narrowing from 18 points to 12 over the past fortnight, with the Tories on 46 per cent (down two) and Labour 34 per cent (up four).
Mrs May and Mr Corbyn will tonight separately face a grilling from Jeremy Paxman and a studio audience in a live TV show screened on Channel 4 and Sky News.