BORIS Johnson faced further rebellion from Conservatives last night as he narrowly succeeded in getting MPs to back his new policy to cap care costs in England.
19 Conservative MPs - including former Cabinet minister Esther McVey and ex-chief whip Mark Harper - rebelled and voted against a change to social care reforms amid anger over how it will hit poorer pensioners.
MPs voted to back the amendment by a margin of 26 votes (272 to 246) - but the prime minister has a working majority of around 80 MPs.
68 Conservatives did not record a vote, either because they abstained or they received permission to miss the vote.
At the start of November, 13 Conservatives rebelled and 98 did not record a vote when MPs voted for a Government-backed proposal to overhaul their disciplinary process and called for a review into Owen Paterson's lobbying case.
Following a Government U-turn, Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg admitted encouraging the prime minister to back Paterson "was a really obvious mistake".
Senior Conservative William Wragg and NHS doctor Dan Poulter were among the Tories to vote against the social care change, as were Christian Wakeford and Mark Jenkinson, two MPs who seized former Labour strongholds in the north for the Tories.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt abstained from the vote, telling Sky News the policy is "not as good as I'd hoped for".
Ex-chief whip Mark Harper said the amendment "potentially disadvantages the less well-off and those of working age with life-long conditions", while former justice secretary Robert Buckland urged ministers to "look again" at the issue.
Mr Johnson had defended the plans as "incredibly generous" and "much better than the existing system" during a speech at the annual CBI conference earlier in the day.
Ministers were unable to say if the change to the £86,000 cap on care costs would fulfil an election pledge to guarantee no-one would have to sell their home to pay for care.
How did Somerset MPs vote?
Six Somerset Conservative MPs voted in favour of the amendment, while two – Marcus Fysh and James Heappey – did not record a vote.
Somerset MPs who voted for the amendment:
Rebecca Pow, Taunton Deane
Ian Liddell-Grainger, Bridgwater and West Somerset
David Warburton, Somerton and Frome
Dr Liam Fox, North Somerset
Jacob Rees-Mogg, North East Somerset
John Penrose, Weston-super-Mare
Somerset MPs with no vote recorded:
Marcus Fysh, Yeovil
James Heappey, Wells
Backbench Conservative critics joined experts and Labour MPs in warning the move to count only individual payments towards the cap, and not local authority payments, would cost poorer recipients more in assets than the wealthy.
In September, the Government announced that an £86,000 cap on lifetime care costs will be put into place from October 2023.
A policy paper last week showed only personal contributions will count towards that cap for people who receive financial support from a local authority for some of their care.
Experts said that means poorer individuals will reach the cap faster than those who are wealthier and will see more of their assets eaten up by care costs.
The Resolution Foundation think tank warned that people in the north and in Yorkshire are most at risk from having their "wealth wiped out by care costs", and said the changes approved on Monday would make the reforms worse.
The Conservatives' manifesto for the 2019 general election said social care reforms must "guarantee that no-one needing care has to sell their home to pay for it".
The prime minister’s official spokesman was unable to say whether people may still have to sell their homes to pay for care.
He said: "I can’t predict individual situations."
Shadow social care minister Liz Kendall accused the Conservatives of breaking the party's electoral promise.
The Labour MP for Leicester West said: "Instead, they voted to tax ordinary working people, while the wealthiest in our country are unaffected.
"Once again, Boris Johnson’s failures translate into working people paying the price."
Under the plans, people with assets of less than £20,000 will not have to contribute anything to their care – up from the current level of £14,250 – while those with assets worth up to £100,000 will be eligible to receive some local authority support, up from £23,250.
MPs have another opportunity to debate the amended Health and Care Bill on Tuesday before it is expected to receive extended scrutiny in the House of Lords.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel