Joan Bakewell speaks up for older people

10/12/2008

 It would be hard to think of someone better placed to speak up for older people. As Joan Bakewell readily agrees, she has been writing about issues such as ageism for some time now – not just in her Guardian column which she started to celebrate reaching 70, but often, latterly, in The Times too. It’s not just that she understands, from the inside, how older people feel. She can articulate those feelings brilliantly too.

 

Her new role, says the Government, will be to help raise the profile of age equality issues and encourage public debate - particularly as the Equality Bill progresses through Parliament. But listening to her speak passionately on a range of wider subjects affecting older people’s lives - from vanishing wardens to the disappearance of public lavatories, and from promoting the idea of churches to replace lost post offices and act as community hubs to the need for living wills - it’s hard to imagine her sticking strictly to the official script.

 

So why does she think she was appointed? “I suppose people know me,” 

she concedes modestly, “but it was still very flattering to be asked.”

 

Certainly in the past she has been a highly vocal critic of the endemic ageism within society – most notably within the media. She is still fighting. “Why don’t you see older women fronting programmes or reading the news?” she demands. “There are some excellent older men in the media – David Attenborough, John Simpson and so on. The ‘big beasts’ of the media. But no women – in the States there are plenty of older women in these roles.”

 

And why is she no longer such a regular feature on our boxes, making the thought provoking and intelligent programmes that became her hallmark? “You’ll have to ask the BBC that,” she says pointedly.

 

Government Minister Harriet Harman describes Joan Bakewell glowingly as a “role model for active and positive senior citizens.” To Joan herself, she is just a working person with absolutely no plans to retire. “I had some reservations when I was asked – and have said that I don’t want payment as I don’t want to be seen to be in the pay of the Government.”

 

How far beyond the ageism agenda Joan can operate will be interesting 
to see. As she herself says, “With more and more of us expecting to live longer, there are issues that concern every individual: how will I provide for myself; how shall I afford such necessities as heating, lighting and insurance; what will my pension rights be; how much help can I expect from the State?

 

“Issues such as the default retirement age are really important, but we must always remember that many of us do want to retire. “Already people are asking me about raising pensions and lowering council tax. If I could achieve all these things the world would be a beautiful place.” As she readily agrees, she cannot hope to change all these things – but she will at least have the ear of Government to draw attention to them.

 

And while she recognizes that there is a long way to go, she is a firm believer in older people working together and speaking up for what they deserve. “It’s a question of critical mass. How many of us are over 50? 20 million? We’re fitter, healthier and we’re the ones who vote too. The political parties will have to pay attention to us.”

 

She also sees her role as promoting the positive side of getting 
older. “I want to show that being old is not just about complaining 
and being grumpy,” she says. A website is being set up to allow people to pass on their views and  concerns to Joan – its address will be announced in the next issue. 

 

In the meantime, you can email her at: 
voiceofolderpeople@geo.gsi.gov.uk or write to her at: GEO 
Correspondence, GEO Office, 5th Floor, Eland House, Brassingdon 
Place, London SW1E 5DU.