Hero generation betrayed by Tory telly snatchers...
THERE is much talk nowadays in Britain about respect for the elderly. How, as a society, we owe a debt of gratitude to those who went before and built the country we enjoy today.
Last week politicians were clambering over each other to pay tribute to the generation who freed the world from fascism 75 years ago.
The BBC aired hours of coverage filled with glowing tributes to what those brave men achieved.
This week however the men and women of that generation are faced with the bewildering reality that those warm words of respect and deference are actually nothing more that that… just words.
For the reality is this Tory government, aided and abetted by our BBC, have treated that generation with cruelty and contempt. The Tory Telly Snatchers should be ashamed until the end of their days for the way they have treated our over 75s. This is a generation who lived through the horrors of the Second World War or were born soon after. Many fought for their country while their families struggled to survive through this nation’s darkest days.
They endured rationing and were the pioneers of a new Britain built from the ashes of war. Many young men were then sent off to do National Service or to serve their country in conflicts around the globe. They raised children, worked long hours then stepped in to care for grandchildren in their later years. For many of that proud generation there was steadfast refusal to accept any welfare benefit. Many would rather go without than go ‘cap in hand’.
And then for all that… for all that… they’ve had probably the only perk they’ve ever received – a free TV licence at 75 – taken away. Yes, those on pension credit will continue to receive a free licence – but we know more than 600,000 people entitled to pension credits don’t claim them. Now they’ll have to pay for a TV licence too. It was George Osborne and the Cameron government which broke a Tory manifesto pledge and handed back responsibility to the BBC to sort the situation.
But at any time Theresa May could have overturned that decision. Instead she sat on her hands until whimpering yesterday she was ‘disappointed’ by the BBC decision.
And amid the cacophony of the Tory leadership hopefuls, what do we hear on this issue? Absolute silence.
As for the BBC - they were weak to take back this responsibility from the Government. And, blinded by their slavish obsession to youth and digital services, incapable of properly considering their older viewers.
The BBC is one of this country’s finest creations. But they have let us down this time. Yet the real blame lies with lying Tories who washed their hands of their responsibility to the elderly, the isolated and the lonely.
They have taken away from 3.7 million people one of the few ‘gifts’ this generation ever enjoyed.
I hope that decision haunts the Tory Telly Snatchers for many years to come.
They’ve taken from the elderly one of the few gifts they ever enjoyed