It’s been so long since we last heard from them, I thought (hoped!) they’d disappeared below the parapet, their ears ringing with the angry cries from the thousands of people they’d insulted.
But recently I heard a discussion on a talk radio station, during which the LUDICROUS idea which we thought (hoped!) had vanished into the ether, was dusted off and put forward again by a politician who attempted to breathe new life into this dead duck.
I won’t reveal which political party he represented because as you know, I’m apolitical.
I treat all politicians with equal contempt.
Being scrupulously impartial has its surprisingly painful drawbacks.
I spend so much time sitting on the fence, I have regular appointments with my GP to have the splinters removed from my backside.
The LUDICROUS idea I’m referring to – that’s found no favour with the majority of the public – is that couples (or singles), whose children have ‘flown the nest’ should themselves move out and sell the home they spent a lifetime paying for to a younger couple.
Naturally, that hackneyed, false accusation that many older people ‘rattle around in big houses’ was mentioned.
Let’s put that one to bed straight away.
Nobody ‘rattles around’ in a three-bed semi!
And politicians, ignorant enough to suggest older couples should move out of the family home when their offspring leave, need to be told the harsh truth.
It’s not uncommon for children to move back in with their parents, due to marital breakdowns or financial problems – often bringing their own children with them, leaving precious little room for anyone to ‘rattle around’ in the house.
Politicians are quick enough to point at older people who are mortgage free, but slow to appreciate that, 30 years previously, they had to make many sacrifices to find the deposit and keep up the mortgage payments plus any mortgage protection insurance for decades.
So they flippin’ well deserve to spend as long as possible in the house they put their hearts and souls into, without some snidey politician, who might well reside in a mansion, suggesting they move out into a one-bedroom flat.