The old, old story

So the first of what will no doubt be usual collection of Government initiatives this week is care for the elderly. Well there is plenty to go at there. The treatment of the elderly in this country is a national disgrace. I might not yet be among their number but I am certainly close enough to give the oldsters a friendly wave so my interest is becoming more vested as the years, ever more rapidly, roll on.

It should all be fairly simple. You work, you pay taxes, you pay national insurance and when you retire you receive a pension in return for your contribution to society. If you are one of the unfortunates who needs additional help and care through frailty or dementia then the NHS or the welfare state should be there to take care of you, after all 50 years or so of NI contributions must surely count for something.

The failings of old age are just as much part of the human story as other long term conditions such as diabetes or arthritis but all the state seems to be interested in once the bus pass arrives is squeezing every last drop of cash out of those who have spent a lifetime working before the old clogs finally pop. No one recovers from old age but that is no reason why Government should impose what is no more than a tax on dying.

The Government are not actually proposing anything this time around, after all they have only had 11 years to think about it, and there is no money involved but the more cynical of you might have noticed it did deflect the flak from Labour's local election disaster for a couple of days. There are concerns about the cost as more people live longer apparently, although the amounts quoted pale into insignificance against the bale out of our impoverished, hard strapped banks, but I suspect the real concern of our political masters could well be the growing size of the grey vote. The elderly are slowly starting to have a considerable say at elections and votes have always been a language politicians understand.