Better-off pensioners should be stripped of benefits such as the winter fuel allowance and free bus passes in order to cut welfare spending, according to a close ally of the prime minister.

In a speech later today (10th July), Nick Boles, a leading Conservative moderniser, will urge the government to cut universal benefits for some pensioners at the next general election.

David Cameron has previously insisted that a Conservative government would retain benefit schemes but there is a growing feeling within the cabinet that older people may also have to make some sacrifices in a bid to cut the deficit.

The government plans to slash an additional £10.5 billion from the welfare budget by 2016-17 and axing benefits for well-off retirees would account for nearly half of that figure.

"We need to acknowledge now that we will not be able to continue the protection of these other benefits for better-off pensioners after 2015," Mr Boles will say in a speech to the independent think tank the Resolution Foundation.

"If we are to achieve stability in our public finances and make crucial investments in improving productivity and competitiveness, we must find further savings from the welfare budget."