New polls show that British Prime Minister Theresa May's lead has narrowed after her Conservatives and the Labour opposition announced their platform for the June election.
On Thursday, the Conservatives Party launched its manifesto, "Forward, Together: Our plan for a stronger Britain and a prosperous future."
Under their manifesto, middle-class pensioners are set to lose benefits to fund social care. It also introduced plans to begin means-testing winter fuel payments and to charge more people who currently receive free care.
The opposition led by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, however, argues that May’s policy plans would create "war between generations."
“Where the Tories look to divide, Labour seeks to bring people together,” Corbyn said on Saturday. “The Tories are now trying to pitch the young against the old.”
Four surveys were released on Saturday with one showing the gap between the two parties halving to nine points.
YouGov found that 40 percent of the public opposed the policy changes for the elderly, whereas 35 percent supported that.
Although previous polls conducted in the early stages of campaigning indicated that May was on course for a landslide with a majority of up to 150 seats, the new polls depicted rather a bleak prospect for the Conservatives.
Now the Conservatives with an expected vote share of between 44 and 46 percent are still ahead of the Labour Party on 33 to 35 percent, however, there is a smaller projected majority of about 40 seats which is far less than the 150-seat majority thought possible a month ago.
On April 18, May called for snap election in a surprise move in order to bolster her position before going into two years of negotiations with the EU about the terms of Britain’s departure from the bloc.
On May 6, May appealed to Britons to support her party in parliamentary elections so she can defend the country's interests in divorce talks with Brussels.
EU leaders, however, have emphasized that the elections' outcome will have no leverage for Brexit.
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