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Jeremy Paxman says 'no votes for pensioners'

(648 Posts)
LucyGransnet (GNHQ) Fri 09-Feb-18 10:34:30

Good morning!

In the Daily Mail yesterday, a story quoted Jeremy Paxman saying that pensioners had 'betrayed young people' and that, as a result, over 65s shouldn't be allowed to vote.

He also said: ‘I think that my generation have behaved like spoilt children. And, like spoilt children, our response is “it’s not my fault”. It’s never our bloody fault.

‘Actually, it is, because we have failed to recognise the consequences of our behaviour.’

Here's the full story: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5370159/Ban-spoilt-elderly-voting-says-Jeremy-Paxman.html

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

POGS Sat 10-Feb-18 19:55:58

trisher 19.20

Your post to me is your long held opinion of anybody that does not hold the same opinion, thought, politics as you do.

To be honest your reasoning is pure partisan politics when the point Paxman is making crosses political persuasion he is saying because you reached the age of 65.

As I said if anybody believes Paxman has a point or agrees with him then follow your conviction, be principled and don't vote. I wouldn't mind betting however those who agree with Paxman would most likely be the first to holler it is their democratic right to vote on another occasion if it ever came about.

Virtue signalling or Principle? You takes yer pick.

Morgana Sat 10-Feb-18 20:01:36

Sad that so many people seem to fail to understand what a mess our generation has made. The younger generations have had it hard and will continue to have it harder. I'm not talking about myself, my friends or neighbours. The rich continue to get richer, the poor poorer. A. I. will take away hundreds of thousands of jobs, we have polluted the planet to the point of no return and the animals are dying out in droves. It happened on our watch!!!!

trisher Sat 10-Feb-18 20:10:18

He is saying you messed up and should take responsibility POGS you don't. He is saying the society that helped us is one we have abandoned. As I said post about society as it is now. Are there more homeless? Are there families in B&B accommodation? Are there people providing vital public services suffering because their wages are not keeping pace with changing prices?
He is saying you don't deserve a vote because you vote purely from personal interest and with no social conscience whatsoever. And it seems most of the posts on here show he is right.

POGS Sat 10-Feb-18 20:10:57

Morgana

So do you think we / you should stop having the right to vote at 65?

Morgana Sat 10-Feb-18 20:11:55

Quite right Trish er!

lemongrove Sat 10-Feb-18 20:19:51

So, trisher and Morgana enjoying those hair shirts?grin
You won’t be voting at the next GE I take it, as the future is not yours you know!

Jalima1108 Sat 10-Feb-18 20:21:59

That presumably would include you trisher?

What a load of codswallop.
Presumably Jeremy Paxman speaks for himself and not for the majority.

Every generation makes a mess of some kind or another Morgana - should that mean they should lose their franchise because some - not all messed up?

Perhaps JP should forfeit his huge salary from the BBC and start campaigning for no licence - there are some people who have actually been criminalised to pay his huge salary and that is truly disgusting.
I hope he feels ashamed.

POGS Sat 10-Feb-18 20:22:16

"He is saying you don't deserve a vote because you vote purely from personal interest and with no social conscience whatsoever. And it seems most of the posts on here show he is right."

He is generalising trisher and he includes you in his thinking.

Unless of course as I suspect there is a form of narcissism that 'some' do not include themselves from having the right to vote being taken away when they reach 65 because they think they are somehow better than others.

You are saying you understand his position but believe it should only apply to those who do not vote as you do.

There's a word for that and it is not democracy!

Jalima1108 Sat 10-Feb-18 20:23:36

I think the word is fascism.
If I am to be corrected on that (and I probably will be), then it is Nazism.

Jalima1108 Sat 10-Feb-18 20:25:02

Well, trisher - if you think you messed up then I will not argue with you.

trisher Sat 10-Feb-18 20:32:42

No POGS if you and the other RFs lose their votes I will happily surrender mine.
Lots of personal accusations on here but still no discussion on social problems and the society we leave to our GCs. Tells you a lot doesn't it.
Actually, it is, because we have failed to recognise the consequences of our behaviour.
Ostriches-sand!

Jalima1108 Sat 10-Feb-18 20:35:03

Lots of personal accusations on here but still no discussion on social problems and the society we leave to our GCs. Tells you a lot doesn't it.
A good idea for a thread *trisher^.

I will not surrender my vote, I will chain myself to the railings first.

POGS Sat 10-Feb-18 21:09:47

trisher

What's RF's?

"Lots of personal accusations on here but still no discussion on social problems and the society we leave to our GCs. Tells you a lot doesn't it. "

It tells you bugger all , other than some are posting regarding the view of Paxman that once you hit 65 you should loose the right to vote irrespective of your sex , political persuasion simply because you are on your last legs and have nothing to contribute.

lemongrove Sat 10-Feb-18 21:29:28

Are you calling GNers ‘Reactionary Farts’ trisher ?RF?
Tut tut. Or is RF some new buzzword?

Lilyflower Sat 10-Feb-18 22:02:32

Paxman always was an arrogant, self important git. We are just lucky that he doesn’t have a say in who does or does not have a vote.

Trixee Sat 10-Feb-18 22:59:24

I read about it in the Times on Wednesday

NanaPlenty Sun 11-Feb-18 08:54:45

Paxmans being ridiculous. The way things are going nobody will want to vote- we voted to leave and it's turned out to be a process that has taken far too long with too many people behaving as sore losers. I have been a supporter of Teresa May but she needs to get tougher. The EU are making too many demands on us - make some back ! They need us, look how many big companies (not to mention the small ones) have a huge market in the uk. Over 65's make up a massive portion of the voting community with more life experience than many others.

M0nica Sun 11-Feb-18 09:06:13

Lots of personal accusations on here but still no discussion on social problems and the society we leave to our GCs. Tells you a lot doesn't it.

Not really, the older generation ruining life for the young theme is as old as the hills. I am from the 60s generation, we were just as aggrieved and sanctimonious as the current young generation.

Our lives have not been a bed of roses. Remember 10 - 15% interest rates on mortgages and 20% inflation?

Raise current mortgage rates to 12% and watch house prices plummet wiping out all that gain we made over the years - and youngsters would still have problems making mortgage payments because so much of it would be interest.

Every generation finds it difficult to begin with, but every generation has different problems. My parents had to risk their lives and live through a world war and so did my grandparents.

AmMaz Sun 11-Feb-18 09:22:24

Yes Trisher you're right no doubt but denying over 65s the vote doesn't cure it but rather comes across as a punishment or a shaming tactic. Is that what you want to model to younger people as a way to conduct politics and social reform?

grannygranby Sun 11-Feb-18 09:38:35

Hi paddyann...when I said older people were wiser I positioned it against the qualifier that 64% however voted for Brexit - so as I saw it not true. lazy shorthand of me. ButI was also pointing to the fact that a healthy society would hold its elders in respect: It makes sense and should be encouraged, after all we are all heading for it and who wants to head for utter irrelevancy? So it was a yoking of those two incompatible beliefs that confused.

AmMaz Sun 11-Feb-18 09:43:09

I agree with you Trisher (yesterday; 15.25) but that is another worthy debate! Gransnetters have picked up on the 'solution' as being worse by implication than the problem (which I dont deny and yes it needs sorting asap) and therefore not a legacy we would want to leave our children.

It is a thin-end-of-the-wedge population cleansing. This is taking responsibility? Letting younger people think this is an OK way to proceed? What we MODEL is what we leave our kids. They need a template for how to be. Suggesting this to them is repugnant - teaching them people are worth less when they get older. Dear me.

Knitnuts Sun 11-Feb-18 09:48:23

I have to say I like Paxo. I read his autobiography recently and was surprised how self-deprecating he was.

He was/is a brilliant interviewer but I can also see that he is becoming even more cantankerous.

The article in the DM was interesting as Paxo made some interesting points. It’s important to realise that his views were made as part of a debate at a debating society. The whole point of this is that the two speakers take opposing views, irrespective of their own personal opinions.

I can remember having to debate for fox hunting when I personally am totally against it - an example only and not trying to start a whole other thread!

I have to say I was very disappointed when I read that Jezza had gone of with his younger assistant. There’s no fool like an old fool springs to mind.

Elegran Sun 11-Feb-18 10:54:31

Does he mean it also to apply to voting in Parliament?

" There are now 24 MPs over the age of 70, more than ever before, and 107 aged between 60 and 65 - another record.

Of those elected at the 2015 General Election, on average, Labour MPs are older than those from the other largest parties. 29% of Labour MPs are aged over 60 compared to 15% of Conservatives, 13% of Liberal Democrats and 7% of Scottish National Party MPs. The average age for SNP MPs is 46, the lowest average for any of the four largest parties (those with 8 or more MPs)."
The Telegraph, Thursday 08 February 2018

Jeremy Corbyn is 68.

Other newspapers may have different statistics, of course.

Eloethan Sun 11-Feb-18 12:27:13

It is, in my opinion, unacceptable to make assumptions about whole groups of people - and to suggest that over 65s should not be allowed to vote is just plain silly.

I do feel that a lot of younger people are very upset about the outcome., although certainly not all were remainers. My son and his partner were and most of my friends, but my daughter didn't vote because she was not convinced by the debates on either side and thought, whatever the outcome, the balance would always be tipped in favour of mega rich individuals and corporations.

I think it should be borne in mind that many young people who had the right to vote in the referendum did not do so. Perhaps it was because they felt distanced from the whole political process. Alternatively, having known nothing but the EU themselves, they believed it was a foregone conclusion because most people would vote to keep the status quo. Older people had a different, more nationalistic, perspective and, some might say, looked back on the past with rose tinted glasses.

I do find the situation now very depressing. Opinions are becoming even more polarised and there seems to be little room for trying to see different points of view and reaching some form of compromise.

Nonnie Sun 11-Feb-18 12:35:39

Eloethan Opinions are becoming even more polarised and there seems to be little room for trying to see different points of view and reaching some form of compromise. If gn is anything to go by your are absolutely right.

I think it has all been said but not all been listened to so I am off this thread.