Coalition under pressure to cut benefits for middle-class pensioners It's rather daft to take tax off the middle classes and pay them a little bit back. He has particularly criticised the winter fuel payment, which hands a £200 cheque to people over the age of 60. "If you honestly think it's going to pay for your holiday then give it back, because it's not what it was meant to do," he said in the interview. The benefit is automatically sent to every pensioner, regardless of their wealth, and does not have to be spent on gas and electricity. Some senior Liberal Democrat ministers and Conservative MPs also believe the payments should be means-tested. Robert Halfon, Conservative MP for Harlow, yesterday publicly called on the Government to re-consider universal benefits for pensioners. "I want more money to go to poorer pensioners," he told the BBC. However, Downing Street yesterday promised the winter fuel allowance will not be reduced for at least another three years, because keeping benefits for pensioners is part of the party's election promises. However, benefits for pensioners could be overhauled when the Coalition agreement expires in 2015, making the subject a key battleground for the next election. Pensioners have been the main group to escape swingeing cuts to their benefits since the Coalition came to power. Ministers have so far slashed benefits by up to £18 billion by reforming housing, disability and employment allowances targeting people of working age. But George Osborne, the Chancellor, has indicated that the welfare budget should be cut even more deeply between 2015 and 2017. Last month, the Prime Minister was presented with proposals to cut spending on benefits by an extra £25 billion by Steve Hilton, the former Number Ten strategy chief. The plans involved a new crackdown on housing benefit and more efforts to push people off benefits back into full-time, rather than part-time, work. There was also a range of measures to encourage more women, particularly single mothers, to return to work. However, officials at the Department of Work and Pensions believe such a high level of cuts is unachievable.