David Cameron shortlisted for ageism award

Tuesday, 09 October 2012

Prime Minister David Cameron has been shortlisted for a ‘clanger’ award at the Roses media awards, following his jibe at 80-year-old Labour MP, Dennis Skinner.

In April, The Prime Minister replied to a question from the veteran MP with the terse response: 

"Well, the honourable gentleman has the right, at any time, to take his pension and I advise him to do so."

The response, following an earlier labeling of Dennis Skinner as ‘a dinosaur’, earned David Cameron a place on the shortlist for the ‘Thorn’ award which aims to expose the worst example of stereotyping, factual error or misleading information regarding older people. 

“This shortlisting has nothing to do with party politics,” said chair of judges, Gransnet editor Geraldine Bedell. “The issue is that no one should make an assumption about a person’s ability based solely on their age, and age should certainly not be the basis for an insult.”

The suitably entitled ‘Thorn’ award is one of 10 awards - the remainder of which positively portray older people or highlight the issues they face. The glittering awards ceremony will be hosted by the older people’s charity Independent Age and sponsored by care provider Barchester Healthcare.

The other finalists for the award are Rowan Atkinson, for his claim that the creative industries should be exempt from age discrimination legislation, and Financial World magazine for an article by David Birch in which he wrote about “a much wider problem in society, which is that older people can vote.”

Janet Street-Porter said of the awards: “Older people are not a homogenous group. They have widely differing needs, interests and aspirations. We need to celebrate and recognise this huge section of our society in a meaningful and positive way. These awards are very important - they not only reward good journalism, but they will help offset the casual ageism that sadly is all too common throughout the media.”The awards will be presented at a special awards ceremony on 8 November, hosted by journalist and broadcaster, Janet Street-Porter.

For full list of categories, plus details of all shortlisted nominees, visit the website.