The young grow up, Mr Mcewan, and become Tories

The Left likes to think that youngsters are progressive and oldies are reactionary – but that’s too simplistic

It is fashionable among liberals not just to admire the young but to resent the old. The author Ian Mcewan recently described Brexit as a “gang of angry old men… shaping the future of the country against the inclinations of its youth”. Time, he reassured us, will deliver us from this problem. By 2019, the country will be more receptive to staying in the EU because it will have, on the one hand, “2.5 million over-18-year-olds, freshly franchised” and, on the other, “1.5 million oldsters, mostly Brexiters, freshly in their graves”.

That’s a nasty way of putting it – but it’s only what many Left-wingers think. They see the fundamental struggle of our times as the young and the progressive vs the old and the conservative. Harry Styles vs Michael Caine. The electoral strategy of Labour and its progressive alliance is based significantly upon mobilising new voters, on tapping into what Nick Clegg has labelled the “undimmed anger and frustration” of the young.

Well, we need to talk some home truths about this generation of bright young sparks who will rescue us from the cynicism of old age. One truth is that they ain’t that great. My advice is to never meet the young: like your heroes, they will only disappoint you. You imagine that they’re going to have some fresh, brilliant perspective on life, but the truth is that they’re often quite boring. They haven’t seen a lot, been far or done much. They can walk up a flight of stairs without pausing for breath, which is impressive, but this doesn’t make up for a dearth of human experience.

If they are as progressive as Mr Mcewan imagines them to be, then it’s only because they don’t know any better. They have very little stake in the system: no savings, no pension, no house to protect from burglars, no daughter to protect from other people’s sons. This lack of anything to lose makes them the perfect audience for radical ideas but, ironically, it’s also why they hardly vote. And why should they? I urge them to drink, make hay and enjoy themselves while they can still go to the loo without experiencing significant discomfort. Don’t waste your precious years on politics.

Because (and here’s another sad truth about the young) they do grow up. They usually grow up to be Conservatives. The same generation that in 1975 voted to remain in the Common Market voted in 2016 to get out of it – and that’s why Mr Mcewan’s maths is completely off. He assumes that when one “oldster” dies, that’s a Brexit or a Tory vote lost forever. He forgets that it’s almost always replaced by a new Conservative voter freshly come of age. Today’s maverick pop star is tomorrow’s retiree playing bridge in Deal. And the beautiful thing about medical advances is that the demographic advantage is slowly tilting towards those over 40. If it’s a generational war you’re looking for, the “oldsters” will win it.

But do we really want such a conflict? No. That’s the Left’s game: dividing society up into interest groups that compete for power and money. Human beings, however, are not so easily categorised. There are plenty of young people, on Left and Right, who have sharp, open minds, and there’s no greater joy than seeing them wrestle with new ideas. Many of them are already being converted to the Right. A recent study published in the British Journal of Political Sciences claimed that the young are more conservative on crime, welfare and income distribution than their parents. The trend seems to be towards social and economic liberalism: not bothered about what people do with their private lives but don’t want to bankroll the consequences.

There are plenty of older people, too, who defy stereotypes of reactionary self-interest. And when those of a certain age do vote Conservative, it is not out of fear, prejudice or lack of regard for the young. They’ve lived through wars and recessions; they’ve seen ideologies come and go. They survived the incredibly dangerous 20th century – and it is possible, just possible, Mr Mcewan, that they want to pass on what they hope will be both a richer and freer country to their grandchildren.

There has to be an alternative to pitching young against old like this, and I’m hoping Theresa May has found it. The Tory manifesto will promise workers a statutory right to take time off to look after relatives. This is only a start; it’s a pity that the leave is unpaid. Nevertheless, Mrs May’s pledge is a truly humane way to deal with the growing costs of ageing, while bridging the gap between generations.

I, for one, am about to hit 35 and am acutely aware of the shift in responsibility within my own family. Once upon a time, Mum looked after me. Now it’s my time to keep an eye on her. She’s fit and healthy right now, but you don’t know when that could change, and having to take charge is a daunting prospect. But what it is absolutely not, as politics implies, is a conflict of interests. Our elders are owed care and respect. I wish politicians would spend far more time talking about how to ensure dignity in old age than pandering to the intellectual passions of young souls who can’t even be counted on to vote.