Does Tory care cap risk Red Wall seats?

Plan may favour South as Labour takes poll lead

SUGGESTIONS that the social care cap will help Londoners more than Northerners may put the Tories’ Red Wall seats at risk, the party was warned last night.

Homeowners in the North face losing three times more of their assets than families in the capital – while those in the Midlands will lose twice as much – according to an analysis.

It adds to concerns that the proposals will do little to prevent people having to sell their homes.

On Tuesday the Prime Minister unveiled his care plan, which will see a lifetime cap of £86,000 on care costs – paid for by a 1.25 percentage point increase in National Insurance. A poll published yesterday – showing Labour ahead of the Conservatives

‘More likely to have to sell their home’

for the first time since January – has caused jitters in the Tory ranks.

The YouGov survey found Sir Keir Starmer’s party on 35 per cent – two points ahead of the Tories on 33 per cent.

This is the Conservatives’ lowest rating since the 2019 election. Last week the Health Foundation think-tank suggested the care cost cap could actually benefit those living in the North.

This is because, under the current system where people face unlimited care costs, northern homeowners pay more as a proportion of the value of their home than those in the South. They said this difference would be lessened if a cap was imposed.

But the new analysis, compiled by Labour, looked at average house prices in each constituency to see how far the £86,000 cap will protect the value of someone’s home. It showed that property-owners in the North could face care costs up to threefifths of their assets including the value of their home.

In Red Wall seats won by the Conservatives in 2019, homeowners face losing 55 per cent of their assets. In comparison, homeowners in London face costs of just 17 per cent of their assets. Labour said this meant homeowners in the North with significant care needs were more likely to have to sell their home and will lose more of the value of the property.

But the Culture Secretary dismissed the poll, saying he believed voters will ‘ultimately recognise’ that the tax rise was necessary. Oliver Dowden said: ‘Finally the Prime Minister has actually done something about this... The electorate reward governments who are willing to take difficult decisions in order to protect the long-term national interest.’

FOR the first time in an eternity, Labour has overtaken the Tories in the polls.

It is of course only one survey. A single swallow does not make a summer. And 11 years into a Conservative government Her Majesty’s Opposition should be miles ahead, not just a pitiful two points.

Still, it makes sober reading for Boris Johnson. He has pranged his party’s lowtax reputation for a splurge on the unappeasable NHS and fixing social care.

Yes, action was desperately needed to shore up elderly welfare. But as the Mail warned the PM this week: ‘Make sure the cure is worth the cost.’

If voters’ pay is slashed for no discernible benefit, that poll will look positively rosy.

■ IN a golden summer for British sport, can anything top Emma Raducanu’s achievements? By reaching the US Open final, the 18-year-old becomes the first qualifier in history to play in the last match of a Grand Slam. Incredibly, only a few weeks ago this refreshingly charming, modest – and breathtakingly talented – tennis sensation sat her A-levels. We wish her the very best of luck tonight. But win or lose, she’s made the entire nation proud.