David Willetts used to be touted as the brains of the Conservative Party though now he appears to be closer to the Jeremy Corbyn view of the world than to anything remotely right wing.
Having been given a peerage for services rendered, Lord Willetts is now chairman of something called the 'Resolution Foundation', one of the myriad of leftish think tanks that trot out daft ideas with alarming frequency. Today, this foundation has published its thoughts about the supposed 'intergenerational contract' between the young and old and has come up with some pretty crazy suggestions.
Primarily, it wants 'the young' to be given £10,000 each, presumably out of the public purse, and, to pay for this as well as providing more funds for the NHS and maintaining 'social cohesion' it wants pensioners, presumably those supposedly rich ones who have houses, cars and yachts stashed away everywhere, to pay more tax. If this isn't a Corbynite approach, I don't know what is.
That there are financial disparities in our society seems undeniable but is this really the way to solve them ? When I was in my youth, I was encouraged to save at least some of my money rather than wasting it all on whatever the fashion of the day was; I had a paper round for over 4 years and then a 'Saturday job' at a local shop. I didn't insist on a 'gap year' to go wandering around the world spending every last halfpenny that I could scrape up and, when I left university, I found a job. In passing, I didn't get more than a pittance of a grant for my time at university as I undertook a sandwich course, working for 5 months during the period from April to September for my first 3 years of study.
No one gave me £10,000, or its 1970s equivalent, and I lived with my parents until I'd saved enough for a deposit on a flat. I paid my way throughout, even having given my mother a portion of my original earnings as a paper boy and I never found myself in debt. I paid my taxes like a good little soldier and made National Insurance and pension contributions and, now that I'm retired, I still pay my taxes on the pension that I saved for; when I die, I have little doubt that the state will take as much as it can from what I've saved over the years. If any government says I should pay still more tax, I'd seriously consider emigrating.
Today's younger generation, sadly for them, seem to have little financial sense and saving seems to be a concept too far. Satisfying their every whim and desire appears to be their main aim in life with possession of the latest electronic gadgets and designer clothes and round the world trips higher on their agendas than thinking about their futures. Finding a job seems to be of little concern to many until they reach their mid-20s and saving for a pension doesn't even register with those who deem owning the newest I-Phone of more importance. Of course, those who attend university, often to undertake courses of little value to themselves or anyone else, complain about the mountain of student debt that it incurs, but rarely mention that this isn't debt in the normal sense of the word. This is a magical debt that only crystallises if their later earnings reach a minimum figure, otherwise it is simply written off.
It is true that house prices have risen faster than in the past and that buying one's own home may now be more difficult in some ways but it's also true that today's younger generation do not have the usurious interest rates to cope with that were commonplace in the 1970s through to the 1990s; no 15% interest for them today and loads of government assistance on offer too. The real problem is nothing to do with pensioners not paying enough tax, it's that the young are financially illiterate; they are impatient, wanting everything to be handed to them on a plate while making little effort themselves. This 'I want to all and now' generation needs to be told a few home truths.
They have been molly-coddled for far too long. kept in school, college or university for so long that they remain children into the mid-20s. They never experience real responsibility and are incapable of dealing with it when it comes along. Giving them £10,000 each, as proposed by the Resolution Foundation would be to simply give them another pot of cash to squander on useless frippery. Taxing pensioners more to pay for such largesse would simply reduce the ability of parents and grandparents to provide better and more targeted help to their children and grandchildren.
If there is any intergenerational unfairness, it is more about what I didn't have and what the youngsters today see as essential. Today's spoilt children, teenagers and even 20-somethings have no concept of how lucky they are compared with the generation that grew up during the 1950s and 1960s; things that are taken for granted today were often not available to us. From kitchen appliances to televisions and DVDs, not to mention laptops, I-Pads, and mobile 'phones; cars were a rarity and waiting for the bus, or walking, was the norm. Going on holiday meant a week in a boarding house in Southend, Blackpool, Margate or some other English resort, rather than a world tour. No central heating and ice on the INSIDES of the windows; no one delivering your weekly shopping because you couldn't be bothered to go to the shops yourself and much more. Oh, how I pity today's youngsters with all their problems, hard lives and insecurities !
Lord Willetts may once have been nick-named 'Two Brains' but it seems that neither is currently working.
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