National Service for Pensioners

Elegran The minister for civil society is Nick Hurd, not Hurt. He is the son of Sir Douglas Hurd, a former foreign minister. Tory dynasty.

Lord Wei was still bashing on about war – that is the word he used – between generations. That is both offensive and inflamatory.

Sorry, that was a typo which I missed before posting.

I am not claiming that he is some kind of angel (he's a career politician!) only that he said that using "morality" as a lever would backfire - as it has been shown to on this thread, clearly. The older generation has already heard enough about their duty to sacrifice their hard-won today for their children's tomorrow, as though they had not already worked for that, and been taxed into the ground to support schemes supposed to ensure success for everyone.

I suspect his war comment is because he can see a war seems already to be on the horizon. Better to have ignored it and said something complimentary about the ability of mature people, and praised what they already do for younger generations, but he is too inexperienced to see it as the self-fulfilling prophesy it is.

I have a smidgeon of pity for him because he has the task of "facilitating" the directing of something which has always previously happened informally.

He would do better to take up herding cats. I used to be on the committee of a minor self-help charity which had grown from a small group who all knew one another and cheerfully mucked in on rotas to do what was necessary to run it and raise funds. It had become a somewhat larger group who had lost sight of the "self-help" aspect and were in the habit of just turning up and being looked after. When we tried to renew the original ethos but in a fair framework we were accused of being power junkies who just wanted to throw our weight around and "wanting to change everything" Much tact and diplomacy were needed.

Nick Hurd is a career politician, Elegran, but Lord Wei isn't. As I said earlier it is worth reading a bit about his background.
As far as the Big Society is concerned, I am with the Archbishop of Canterbury who called it:
"...aspirational waffle designed to conceal a deeply damaging withdrawal of the state from its responsibilities to the most vulnerable.”

well said mamie via Archbishop of Canterbury

It used to be said that unpaid middle-aged middle-class ladies ran all the charities and philanthropic institutions in the country. Now that the supply of them has dried up, and social services are over-stretched and hog-tied with 'elf and safety restrictions, the "Big Society" is supposed to be taking their place.

They should not have destroyed the original fabric of society.

One of the established methods of starting a war is to say, repeatedly, that there is going to be a war.

What irritates me is the assumption that people who retire don't undertake voluntary work. As I have commented on another thread people tend to believe the media image and not what is in front of their eyes. The media suggest retired people are either poor old dears or on cruises or the golf course all the time. Reality is that if you look at any voluntary organisation, whether charity helping those in need, or a local civic or cultural group you will find that, at least 90 percent of the volunteers are over retirement age.

my retired friends work for charities for the elderly, heritage groups, music societies, Oxfam, and their church not to mention providing childcare for their GC and giving the psychological, physical and financial help that enables their wider family to cope with life and find housing and jobs in these difficult times.

I do not have time to join a National Service for the Elderly programme I am too busy with all my voluntary work

I am too busy with family commitments to take on any voluntary work but what if I simply don't want to? What is wrong with spending your hard earned retirement taking life easy(I wish)? Some folk are naturals when it comes to committees, volunteering, community work etc., but some aren't. Does it matter?

And how on earth are you supposed to chivvy along the unwilling?

That is the trickiest bit, JessM Those who already do it from their own initiative don't need any chivvying. Others might do it if it occurred to them and sounded an interesting and worthwhile thing to do. Others again have neither time or inclination and would just find any suggestion of it a cheek.

Calling it National Service was not a good idea. Military National Service was an unwelcome break in young men's lives but at least most of your classmates were called up too, so it was a kind of rite of passage. The older generation do not need any rite of passage - and it has an obligatory sound.

If my voluntary work was subsumed into some great National Community Service Plan For The Elderly I would promptly resign from everything, take up golf and go on a cruise. One of the ineffable joys of retirement is being to decide myself what I do and when I do it.

Well said, FlicketyB!

I don't think I'd take up golf. Every time I did in the past I got pregnant within three months! Even after having been sterised I've kept away ever since

In that case I will take up bowls.

Er....I hesitate to point out the obvious, jeni!

I'm not taking ANY chances!!!

Bowls always makes me think of those Beryl Cook paintings...

One of the doctors who worked for me lives next door to her. He tried to sue her when she characterised him and his wife in one of her paintings!

Treat this sort of comment with the contempt it deserves. We know the huge contribution we have always made and continue to do so. If he doesn't know then that his loss. Personally I would just love to meet him on one of our rare holidays! I am 65, still running our own business, have six grandchildren and volunteer with young people! I know I'm OK, is he?

Hear hear!

I wonder what he does for the community? Most of us, I suspect, did things for others when we were working too.

Lord Wei is on a par with the idiot who wrote that report on older people living in houses with too many bedrooms. They get a bee in their bonnet about some aspect of the lives of a group of people they know nothing about and then build a whole Shard in the sky about what they do, how they live etc etc then they puff it out to the press in a style that will attract attention. The fact that they dont know what they are talking about and that the report is based on hot air with no substantive facts to support it is completely ignored.

Once upon a time politics was populated by lawyers, squires and ex-further education lecturers (depending what party you supported) now politics is populated by ex Public Relations executives who know that if you if you say something loud enough and often enough people will believe you. They are using generation warfare to distract people from the devastating effects that the gross mismangement of the economy by both parties and the unbridled greed of financial corporations has brought on us all. Given the age of our current Cabinet they have been reduced to the tactics of inadequates since time immemorial - blame your parents for the messes you get yourself into.

Lord Wei's "older people" whom he wants to encourage to volunteer in retirement are also described by him as being "55- to 65-year olds". I would guess that fewer and fewer people will be retiring at 55 – or anywhere below pensionable age – in today's economic climate. Also, has anyone pointed out that the pension age is being increased at a rate that this government has accelerated and that, fairly soon, it will be over 65 for both men and women?

Does that mean that at 66 I'm far too old to help the community? Jolly good, I'll just look after me then and forget everyone else

I have just googled Lord Wei and got the report of what he said. Apart from him aiming his plan at retired 55 -65 year olds, which, as Absentgrana points out are less and less likely to be retired. It is clear that he also sees all those of us who are 66 and over as too old, too doddery and too demented to be capable of making any contribution to the community. If he really properly investigated he would find the majority of volunteers to charities are over 60....whoops I am repeating what I said in my first mailing oin this subject