“We will keep the free television licence, we will keep the pension credit, we’ll keep the winter fuel allowance, we’ll keep the free bus pass. Those leaflets you have been getting from Labour, the letters you have been getting from Labour are pure and simple lies.”
David Cameron, Leaders’ debate, 22 April 2010

Promising something on the campaign trail is one thing, but delivering it in government is quite another. An angry David Cameron left no room for manoeuvre when he pledged to keep the winter fuel allowance, in the face of what he called Labour “lies”. Now, four months on, some of his ministerial colleagues are wishing he’d left a bit more wriggle room.

The winter fuel allowance is tax-free, and is paid to everyone in the UK over the age of 60, regardless of their means. This year, it was a payment of £250 per household, costing taxpayers £2.7bn.

That would come in handy for the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, as he struggles to meet Treasury demands for 25 per cent cuts to his budget.

He and other Conservative right-wingers in government are known to be sceptical about preserving the winter fuel allowance in its entirety. But now I understand Duncan Smith – who’s been at war with the Treasury over the cost of his benefit reform plan – has some unlikely allies.

You might expect the Liberal Democrats to be against cutting winter fuel payments. Not a bit of it. They argued in opposition that the benefit should be “reformed”. What that actually meant was deferring payment until people reach 65.

Now the Lib Dems in government are reviving calls for such “reforms”. One told me: “It’s something that we’ve obviously talked about.” Another Lib Dem minister said: “You could make the case for taxing it.”

So the Tory right and the Lib Dem left have teamed up in a kind of unholy alliance. Whether they can persuade the chancellor to think again on winter fuel payments is another matter.

Here’s what he said today: “The commitment on the winter fuel payments is there in the coalition agreement and was made during the election campaign and is there for all to see.”

The coalition agreement promises to “protect key benefits for older people, such as the winter fuel allowance, free TV licences, free bus travel, and free eye tests and prescriptions”. But could Osborne argue that he’d “protected” the winter fuel allowance if he simply delays the age at which new claimants get it?

In this age of austerity, nothing – apart from milk snatching – can be ruled out.