The shortage of public lavatories is proof Britain despises its old

Who would be an old person in ageist, aggy, mean-spirited modern Britain? Oops did I say “old person”? I meant, of course, boomer, bedblocker, demographic time bomb; take your pick of the pejoratives used to describe those who have literally paid their dues and now discover their reward is contempt – not just from the young and narcissistically immortal but our threadbare Government which has very much passed its use-by date.

From the decline of cash in shops to parking facilities that can only be paid for by phone and the fact that services which mainly apply to older people, such as Blue Badge applications, are going totally digital in many places, our pensioners are being overlooked, undermined and relegated to the status of second class citizens.

This week we learn that older people are deliberately risking dehydration because of a shameful shortage of public lavatories. A survey carried out by Wales Senior Forum revealed that pensioners routinely avoid drinking water or hot beverages before they leave the house because they fear being caught short while they are out and about.

Is this really the way to treat the old and the frail? Without dignity? Without concern or compassion? We’ll all grow old, after all, if we’re lucky. Even Posh Spice has just notched up her half century.

Fast forward and the number of people aged 65 and over will increase by more than 40 per cent within 20 years. That’s me, that is, and I’d like to flag up that I’m filled with horror at the prospect of eventually having to choose between becoming a prisoner in my own home or investing in adult diapers just to enjoy the sort of afternoon out that will be imperative for my mental and physical wellbeing – and keep me out of hospital.

The current lack of lavatories incidentally has been dubbed the “loo leash”, a reference to “urinary leash”, the term used to describe why women living in Victorian Britain were unable to travel far from home or enter the public sphere.

In fact, the first ladies’ public lavatories were opened in London’s West End in the 1880s, as a way of allowing women to shop for longer. But despite the efforts of the suffragists to widen their availability, public “conveniences” for women remained rare until after the First World War.

We’ve all noted how, post-lockdown, there are fewer public lavatories; and those which have reopened are often in a state of at best disrepair and, at worst, dilapidation. Unlike other European nations – such as Italy, where bars and cafes are known to allow any member of the public access to their loo – our hospitality trade is notably stingy when it comes to comfort breaks.

It’s all so dreary and depressing. While lip service is paid to lionising the old if they’re famous and extraordinary – Rishi Sunak found time to meet Angela Rippon when the unapologetically magnificent 79-year old was high kicking her way into our sitting rooms on Strictly Come Dancing – my 90-something neighbour has had to wait two years for the installation of a stair lift.

I’m sure it will shock absolutely no-one that the council assumed he would probably die before they got round to it, so they didn’t make him a priority.

Neglect of public lavatories is a false economy. It reduces footfall in our towns and cities, impacts the economy and blights lives. I speak as an anxious midlifer; we need investment urgently. This is one penny we really do have to spend.