<p><br /> Coalition proposals for scrapping free school milk have descended into confusion after Downing Street insisted the cut would not go ahead.<br /> </p><p><br /> Number 10 stamped on the suggestion despite health minister Ann Milton saying the scheme for under-fives was too expensive and there was no evidence it benefited children.<br /> </p><p><br /> Aides to Prime Minister David Cameron made clear that he "did not like the idea" of cancelling free milk, and that it would "not be happening".<br /> </p><p><br /> However, the intervention left universities minister David Willetts floundering in a television interview, as he inititally said that ending the provision was on the table - only to be informed on air that it had been ruled out.<br /> </p><p><br /> The controversial proposal had echoes of Margaret Thatcher's removal of free school milk for over-sevens in 1971, when she was education secretary.<br /> </p><p><br /> That decision earned her the nickname "Milksnatcher" among critics.<br /> </p>
