IN the past few weeks my activities in the Scottish Older People’s Assembly have been a bit like a The National columnists convention. Westminster’s youngest MP, Mhairi Black, organised a reception for us in Westminster and Terri Smith, chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, invited us to attend the Scottish Youth Parliament. It was great to mix with such talented young people. It helps to debunk the myth of some kind of rivalry between the generations.
In Westminster Mhairi Black and I presented a shared view to MPs that retirement age and pensions are not solely an issue for older people. The British state pension is already one of the lowest in the developed world and our retirement age is among the highest. In fact I sometimes wonder if part of the attraction of Brexit to the present government is to prevent us making working and retirement comparisons with our counterparts in Europe. Obviously, pensioners like me are pushing for improvements now, but as Mhairi said the Westminster government’s intention is to steadily increase the British retirement age until 2060, when it will be the highest in the world. That timescale won’t affect me, but it means the intention is that British younger people will have to work longer than other countries to qualify for poorer pensions.
So unless we can work together to change these policies now, younger generations will suffer. Similarly SOPA’s campaign to control the rising costs of funerals will benefit younger and older relatives, as it is often younger members of the family who are hit by undertaker and council charges following a death. We hope the MPs at our reception will take on these and the other issues we raised.
Last week, by contrast, we attended the Scottish Youth Parliament. It was a heartening experience to see the young delegates addressing serious issues in an impressively articulate and well informed way in debates which were chaired effectively and good humouredly by Terri Smith, MSYP.
Their non-partisan approach to issues like sex education, immigration and environmentalism contrasted markedly with some of the bear pit behaviour that we often witness in Westminster and Holyrood. We often hear criticism of ‘young folk today’ but these young people set an example that many of their elders could follow It is to the Scottish Parliament’s credit that they have shown a willingness to listen to the often overlooked voices of young people and pensioners while access to Westminster is much more remote. The recent reviews of the newly devolved Social Security powers was a great example of the Scottish Government’s efforts to involve a wide range of the public in influencing how the new benefit systems will be implemented in a fairer and more humane way. The Nation also has to be complimented in giving a platform to a broader spectrum of Scottish opinion. Of course, as one delegate said at the Youth Parliament. ”We don’t just want consultation. We want meaningful discussion.”
He was right. What old and young want is more influence over the policies and services that affect us. I’m sure regular exposure in The National will help us to achieve that.
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