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thomas davison

Shameful insult to the baby boomers who rebuilt Britain
WHEN a senior bishop of the Church of England speaks it is usually safe to assume it is at least worth hearing what he has to say.
By: Neil Wallis
Published: Fri, June 14, 2013

Political-leaning-Rt-Reverend-Richard-Chartres Political leaning? Rt Reverend Richard Chartres

So I don�t know what is worse about the latest sermon from the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the third most powerful clergyman in the Church of England: the actual views he expressed or the fact someone in his position holds opinions that demonstrate a complete lack of understanding about what is the very best of Britain.

Little shocks me these days. I�ve lived through wars, boom, bust, Neil Kinnock, terrorism, austerity, race riots, poll tax riots, inflation of 26 per cent, devaluation, hordes of feckless welfare scroungers, mass unwanted immigration, the euro, you name it�

But when the Bishop of London effectively accuses the current generation of pensioners of greed and taking a bigger slice than they deserve of the country�s wealth that they actually created I�m not just shocked I am livid.

First, let me declare an interest.

I�m 62 and one of what is called the �baby boomer generation�.

That�s those born in the decade after the Second World War.

Bishop Chartres, who at 65 is himself a baby boomer, believes that in these times of austerity his contemporaries are a greedy �fortunate generation� who are unfairly and wrongly soaking up taxpayers� money. That is money which he thinks should be taken off them and kept to pay the bills of the generation that has followed and that at least in significant part may not have the same work ethic of today�s pensioners. There is, he declares, �questions of intergenerational equity� that means despite all their years of graft and hard work they should now accept less secure, less comfortable lives in retirement than they thought they�d earned.

Instead they should donate a share of the pensions they�re entitled to, to those future generations.

Yes, seriously.

It is of course just plain wrong. But what it demonstrates is how little this Cambridge-educated cleric understands about the country for which he is supposed to provide a moral lead, or for the older vulnerable people he is supposed to care about and protect.

The truth is that this baby boomer generation is one of the greatest to have ever blessed this wonderful nation. It is a generation that began in shocking poverty but fought, struggled and worked its socks off to make Britain great again after the ravages of a war that left us victorious but exhausted.

I grew up on a cold housing estate with frost on the inside of the window panes in winter, where every lump of coal was prized and meat was a once-a-week treat. What our parents instilled in the baby boomer generation was the belief that the only answer was to better themselves, that it was an actual responsibility.

baby, blessThe truth is that this baby boomer generation is one of the greatest to have ever bless this nation

Bishop calls us greedy and wants our pension

Unemployment was shameful, education was the answer to everything, it was your duty to improve yourself and the lot of your family. Work � hard work � was everything.

Baby boomers took that to heart and did just that. They worked and slaved through the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties to build by sheer graft a better, wealthier, healthier, economically more sound nation.

Margaret Thatcher, though some on the Left still revile her, set those changes in stone and the baby boomers were the stonemasons. They grafted, they fought damn hard both for the country and their families, and they delivered. They were promised that if they did so they�d be properly looked after.

It was a contract that they met in full.

So the idea now that the Bishop of London should suggest that the state could welch on its side of the bargain is beyond belief. How on earth can he have reached this view?

He�s plainly a decent man, cares about young people, is close to the Royal Family � he delivered an address at the memorial service for Princess Diana in 2007, confirmed Prince William and read the sermon at the Prince�s wedding to Kate Middleton � and has done many fine works. Is the clue his close links to the Labour Party? He sits on the advisory council of the Tony Blair Faith

Foundation, for instance. Is it a coincidence that he revealed his thoughts just days after Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said for the first time that if his party wins the next general election that it will consider cutting pensions as part of a cost-saving austerity package?

I really hope so.

What isn�t a coincidence is that also this week it was revealed that already more than one million over-65s have continued to clock in for work after retirement age. Many have simply been forced to carry on because they�ve found that the pension they�ve contributed to all their working life is simply inadequate for their needs. That�s right, the pension that Bishop Chartres is insisting is too generous.

At least some, I have no doubt, are baby boomers who after a lifetime of hard graft know of no other way of life other than work and simply have no desire to stop. They can work so they want to work.

And why not? But that should be their choice, not forced on them. And particularly not at the behest of one of the most senior clergymen in the land, acting hand-in-glove (knowingly or not) with a socialist politician.

If this is what the Church of England is preaching is it any surprise it finds it difficult to fill its pews?

Shame on you, Richard Chartres.