David Cameron speech on ageing UK population

David Cameron speech on ageing UK population; - So, how can we achieve security and dignity in old age for all? / For many years older people have been airbrushed out of the picture, they don't feature much on television, they're seen as outside popular culture, they don't always get a lot of attention in politics, but if older people have been airbrushed out of the picture, they are about to paint themselves back in again, it's time politicians woke up to the change that is coming, the biggest generation in history is retiring, the eleven million baby boomers are marching towards 65 / Today 1 in 6 people aged 65 or over, in 30 years time that will be 1 in 4, that's a profound change for our society and a positive one / Yes, we need to increase our birth rate to ensure our future prosperity, but the ageing of the baby boomers represents an opportunity rather than a threat, to realise this opportunity I believe we need to challenge three assumptions about older people / The first is that aging only represents cost, the second is that older people are backward looking and resistent to change, and thrid, the assumption that older people can only ever be passive recipients of whatever services the government chooses to give them / So much literature and discussion of older people talks of the costs that they represent, partly because of government policy, real and lasting damage was done to pensions because of the decisions made by Gordon Brown [Chancellor of the Exchequer] / In 1997, we had one of the strongest private pension systems in the world, but not anymore, the notorious raid on the pensions funds has taken 5 billion pounds a year out of people's saving and since 1997, 60,000 company schemes have closed, and more and more people have been pulled into the web of means testing, means testing is an insult to the dignity of old people, reform is needed and must be affordable, but all the Chancellor has done is given pensioners an IOU which may or may not be rede...