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Former Conservative Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell has downplayed apparent government confusion over the proposed scrapping of free milk for under-fives.

The coalition said on Sunday that the benefit would not go, after health minister Anne Milton suggested plans for such a move were in place.

Mr Dorrell, an ex-health secretary, said it had been judged the political risk "didn't merit the rewards".

He added that the proposal had been discussed only at a "junior level".

The Nursery Milk scheme allows children under five in approved day care to receive 189ml (1/3 pint) of milk each day free of charge.

It dates back to 1940, when milk was issued to pregnant women and young children to protect them against wartime food shortages.

'Difficult choices'

In a letter to the Scottish government, Mrs Milton had said the milk scheme was too expensive - costing almost £50m this year - and the coalition was considering increasing the value of Healthy Start vouchers for the poorest families instead.

She said there was no evidence the scheme improved health and that the government was looking at abolishing it by April 2011.

But Downing Street later ruled this out.

Mr Dorrell, who is chairman of the Commons health select committee, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This was a proposal from Anne Milton suggesting that this money might be better used to deliver the same objective by different means.

"It was a proposal that was being discussed at a junior level in the government. Downing Street... clearly reached the conclusion... that the [political] risks didn't merit the reward.

"All life, not just politics, is about making sometimes difficult choices. This was a suggestion that there was £50m spent in providing free milk for under-five-year-olds.

"Could that be better spent to deliver the objective that we all share, which is to ensure that there is the best possible healthy start for all children, but perhaps particularly children from low-income backgrounds?

"If you read the correspondence it's absolutely clear that everybody was seeking to deliver that objective."

'On the hoof'

Former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was branded a "milk snatcher" by some when, as education secretary, she presided over the abolition of free school milk for children over the age of seven in 1971.

Mr Dorrell said of Mrs Milton's letter: "A change was proposed. When Downing Street found out about it, they recognised the historical context of it... and suggested this was not a change they wished to see proceeded with."

Shadow health secretary and Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham said there was "policy chaos within his government".

Leadership rival Ed Balls, the shadow education secretary, said: "This is a coalition in chaos, making policy on the hoof."