THE Conservatives have desperately attempted to reboot their botched General Election campaign after opinion polls point to plummeting levels of support.

A clutch of surveys published yesterday indicated the massive lead Theresa May’s party had over Labour at UK level just a few weeks ago had crumbled, putting at risk the Prime Minister’s hopes of increasing her slender 17-seat majority in the Commons.

The revelations came as Jeremy Corbyn arrived in Scotland last night in a bid to win over support for his party, which has haemorrhaged since the 2014 referendum.

In what appeared to be a softening stance towards Scottish independence, the UK Labour leader changed a key phrase of the script of his written speech when he delivered it to some 850 people in Glasgow.

Replacing the word “reject”, with “challenges the notion of”, he told his audience: “Yes, our vision challenges the notion of independence because we say that if we all stand together things can and will change.”

The move came less than a week after Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, who was not present at last night’s rally, said Labour would “never” consent to a second independence referendum.

Four polls in newspapers yesterday gave the Tories leads of between six and 12 points over Jeremy Corbyn’s party, while a YouGov poll on Friday suggested the Conservative lead of 25 points at the time the snap election was called had shrunk to five points.

Tory support began to fall following the publication of the party’s manifesto, which set out controversial policies that would hit older voters.

A plan for a new social care system south of the Border – dubbed the “dementia tax” – in which people would have to pay for their care until the value of their assets – including their home – reached £100,000, was the most controversial.

May was later forced into a U-turn on the policy, insisting there would be an “absolute limit” on what people would have to pay despite no cap being mentioned in the manifesto.

Despite Tory efforts to move the debate on yesterday, stepping up attacks on Corbyn, including on his perceived weaknesses on security following the Manchester terror attack on Monday, the debate over the “dementia tax” raged on.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd came under fire when she said she was did not know what the cap on social care costs would be.

“The Prime Minister has said yes, there will be a cap but we are not sure where the cap will be,” she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

“What we are saying is we will have a green paper to make sure that we set it at the right level and we consider all the other alternatives.”

In Scotland, Tory leader Ruth Davidson has said her party would not implement the social care plans or the means-testing of the winter fuel payment – another controversial plan in England. However, her main focus continues to be opposition to a second independence referendum.

Meanwhile Nicola Sturgeon hit out at the “cruelty” and “financial incompetence” of the Conservatives as she urged Scots to say “enough is enough” in the election next week.

The SNP leader and First Minister claimed the Tory U-turn on social care showed May’s party was “more weak and wobbly than strong and stable”

Writing in our sister paper the Sunday Herald, Sturgeon said: “Tomorrow there will be 10 days to polling day. Ten days in which it is vital that a light is shone firmly on the impact Tory policies will have on the country, on households and on jobs.

“Ten days in which we can really put a check on the Tories and put the values we seek to protect at the front of the campaign. Ten days in which people across Scotland can say enough is enough, and vote SNP to stop the Tories and give Scotland a strong voice at Westminster.”

Sturgeon went on the attack as she insisted there is an “alternative to Tory austerity”.

She said £118 billion of cash could be freed up across the UK over the course of the next parliament to “safeguard our public services, protect household incomes and put the UK’s finances back on a stable footing”.

Appearing on the Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme on Sky News and ahead of the SNP manifesto launch tomorrow, Sturgeon said: “I don’t want to see Tory governments or Tory prime ministers, they do real damage to Scotland.”

But she also hit out at Corbyn and his party, saying: “One of the things Labour has got to answer for in this election is they have put forward a leader that lacks credibility in terms of people’s perception of his ability to be Prime Minister.”

She refused to say if she would prefer Corbyn or May to be in power at Number 10 after June 8, but told The Andrew Neil Interviews on BBC One that SNP MPs would “look to be part of a progressive alliance” at Westminster if the General Election were to result in a hung parliament.

The Scottish Government has already introduced a number of policies contained in Labour’s manifesto, axing tuition fees for students and abolishing parking fees in hospitals.

Sturgeon stated: “If there was to be a hung parliament of course we would look to be part of a progressive alliance that pursued progressive policies.”

“But let’s get back to the reality of this election. The reality of this election, even with a narrowing of the polls, is that we’re going to face a Tory government perhaps with a bigger majority, so my priority in this election is to say to people in Scotland, if you want Scotland’s interest to be protected and our voice heard, then you’ve got to vote SNP to make sure that’s the case.

“Voting Tory deliveries Tory MPs who’ll rubber stamp Theresa May and voting Labour in Scotland risks letting the Tories in.”

In the run-up to the 2015 General Election the Tories sought to raise fears in England about the impact a possible coalition between Labour and the nationalists could have.

Conservative Party chairman Patrick McLoughlin said yesterday that a deal between the SNP and Labour “would mean Jeremy Corbyn propped up by a weak and unstable coalition just days before the Brexit negotiations start – putting at risk the deal we need to get”.

He added: “Corbyn and the rest would put up taxes, weaken our defences and increase immigration. And we know he would give into Sturgeon’s demand for another independence referendum, because he’s ‘absolutely fine’ with that.

“In the days of shock election results, Jeremy Corbyn could become PM – and the polls are tightening.”

Sturgeon said that “even with the narrowing of the polls I still think it is highly likely the Tories are going to win this election”, adding that “what matters for Scotland is we’ve got the strongest possible voice – we know the damage Tory governments do to Scotland”.

She said that the vote on June 8 would “not decide whether or not Scotland becomes independent” – but that if her party won in Scotland it would strengthen the case for a second referendum.