"A Blazing, Shouting, Grade-A Row" hit Whitehall as George Osbourne told Iain Duncan Smith he would have to find around £5 of savings for every £1 he spends on his welfare reform plans.
Iain Duncan Smith, Welfare Secretary and Former Tory Leader, aims to simplify the benefits system and create incentives to work. Although his reforms are expected to save money in the long term, he requires a £3bn initial start up cost to fund his radical plans.
£3bn which Osbourne originally refused to give.
Since the exposure of the row, George Osbourne has refused to admit that he and the former Tory leader have been involved in the rumoured tense disputes; describing the welfare reform as the "fundamentally progressive and fair thing to do" but described it as a "complex operation".
But allegedly, David Cameron himself had to step in on the behalf of Iain Duncan Smith at a meeting at Chequers.
As otherwise, there were fears that IDS might resign or use his influential role as former party leader to rally backbenchers against the Chancellor - potentially a huge blow for the stability of the Coalition. So the Treasury have agreed IDS can have the money, providing he could produce savings from elsewhere.
Presently, it would seem the "blaze" has been extinguished but perhaps over the next five years we will see this old rift rekindled...
