Boris Johnson has been the target of a Tory rebellion for his recent decision to reduce a social care cost cap.
Conservative MPs have asked the government to reconsider a modification to Prime Minister’s Social Care Plans, which were slipped through last week.
Small-print relating to the reforms means that means-tested support from local authorities for the less well-off will no longer count towards the £86,000 cap.
They will need to use more money for their care in order to reach the lifetime limit.
Andrew Dilnot, the original social care tsar who made recommendations a decade ago on how to improve the sector, blasted the change and said it means the ‘less well-off will not gain any benefit from the cap’.
Tomorrow is the expected crunch vote in the House of Commons on the matter. Pressure is mounting upon the PM to do a U-turn.
Sajid Javid (Health Secretary) today said that “everyone will get better off” under the new system.

Boris Johnson faces a rising Tory revolt over his decision not to lower a cap on the cost of social care.

Small-print relating to the reforms means that means-tested support from local authorities for the less well-off will no longer count towards the £86,000 cap. (stock photo)
The hope was that the imposition and maintenance of a maximum on life-time care costs would prevent many elderly people from losing their houses to help pay for care.
The Government’s policy paper last week showed that this will be less beneficial to those currently receiving free assistance from the state under a means check. This is because the contribution they make won’t count in determining when they reach the cap.
So a poor pensioner receiving state support would have to spend £86,000 of their own money on extra care before they were deemed to have hit the limit.
According to the Government, the action is necessary in order for people not to reach the cap at a faster rate that what they contributed.
It said a new ‘much more generous means test’ – which increases to £100,000 from £23,250 the amount elderly people can hold in assets before they have to pay for all their care themselves – ‘is the main means of helping people with lower levels of assets’.
The Treasury Select Committee was informed by Mr Dilnot that 40% of elderly with care need will not receive any benefit from this cap.
The lower prices of houses in the area will also be a problem for pensioners living in northern England, he warned.
The Tory MPs have called for the government to reconsider the policy due to fears that there will be a backlash from ‘Red Wall” constituencies should it be implemented.
Robert Buckland (the Tory ex-justice secretary) today called on the Government to get back to basics.
LBC Radio interviewed him: “I think that the Government should reconsider this. We are at risk of placing the horse before the cart.
‘I think it is far better to actually publish the social care white paper first so that we can see what the new proposals are, what is the system that we are going to be funding, let’s have a look at that first before dealing with…’
Asked if he is currently minded to vote against the policy, the former Cabinet minister said: ‘Yeah, I think that the Government must look again at this. Let’s first make the whitepaper and then we can fine-tune the funding.
According to Mr Buckland, many colleagues share the same view. He stated that there’s ‘a lot’ of concern about the changes.
Damian Green, the Tory former Cabinet minister, told the Observer: ‘I would urge them to adopt a different approach.
“It’d be infinitely better to give people the opportunity to keep some of their property wealth, rather than have one rate that applies to all.
According to another Tory MP, the new change amounts to imposition of an “inheritance tax” on Red Wall constituencies whose house prices tend not be as high.
The group stated that there would be many first-time rebels when the election takes place.
As an amendment to tomorrow’s Health and Care Bill, the change will be up for vote.
Labour calls on Tory MPs against the move. Jonathan Ashworth, shadow health secretary to Labour, stated that ministers of government have “not only raised tax on workers but also asked MPs to vote to protect pensioners from the North and Midlands.
The “Red Wall” Conservatives should learn from their mistakes and listen to the people they represent.

Sajid Javid (Health Secretary) today stated that everyone would be more fortunate under the new system.
In an interview on BBC Andrew Marr Show, Mr Javid was asked about the changes.
Told that Mr Dilnot had criticised the move and warned it would hit poorer pensioners the hardest, the Health Secretary said: ‘He is just looking at his particular plan that he had put forward many years ago versus the plan that we set out in September which is a plan that we said we would do which is to protect people from the catastrophic cost of social care by capping it at £86,000.
‘No one will have to pay more than £86,000 – it doesn’t matter who they are, where they live in the country.
‘That is where we have set the cap to protect you from catastrophic cost because most people’s care journey is not that long, most people’s care journey is a couple of years.’
As he supported the government’s reforms, Mr Javid referred to the “much more generous means” test.
He added: ‘What our plans mean taken together is that everyone – everyone – doesn’t matter where they live in the country, will be better off under the new proposals that we set out versus the current system. Everyone will be better off.’