What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The Tories made a promise to save free TV licences for pensioners which was impossible for the government to deliver, a minister has admitted.

The Government-funded scheme, which provides free TV licences to older viewers, comes to an end in June 2020.

The BBC has launched a consultation exercise on its future but warned that continuing with the scheme could cost around a fifth of the budget.

The 2017 Tory manifesto promised to “maintain” pensioner benefits, “including free bus passes, eye tests, prescriptions and TV licences, for the duration of this Parliament” - which runs to 2022.

But a law passed the month before the manifesto was written hands the power to strip over-75s of their free licences to the BBC in 2020, two years earlier.

(Image: PA)

Lord Ashton, a Tory minister in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport admitted the government had no power to protect free TV licences when the promise was made.

Challenged on the doomed pledge in Parliament on Tuesday, he said: “We absolutely made it clear to the BBC that we expect them to continue with this important concession.”

He said the Digital Economy Act made clear the Government “retains the power to maintain the concession to 2020, which we are going to do, after which full responsibility will transfer to the BBC – so it took place before the manifesto was written”.

Labour Peer Toby Harris said: “The government has finally come clean about its willingness to subcontract tax raising powers to the BBC.

(Image: Getty Images)

“But it also shows that the commitment made on license fees in the last Tory manifesto wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.”

Tom Watson said: “This is the Tories admitting that they are ripping up their manifesto promise. "In fact the logic of what the Minister has said today is that Theresa May knowingly misled pensioners when she signed off a manifesto promise that she was not going to be able to deliver.

“Millions of older people will feel totally betrayed and very concerned about the prospect of losing their free TV licences.

“If the claim that austerity is over had any credibility the Government would step in and provide the money to ensure older people don’t lose their TV licences.”