Grey Power Party

In days of yore, the older generation were revered, and considered to be the wise sages or elders who could guide the community best. Now they are considered as either a nuisance or as a milk cow.

It is time to turn this around and get rid of the young upstarts who have been running down this country for the last 20 years.

I propose, as a starting place, the following points for a manifesto.

1. National debt: Margaret Thatcher had the right idea. We must not spend more than we have and we should not borrow. Stop Borrowing from the IMF, and stop paying out huge sums of money in foreign aid. The countries that need aid can go direct to the IMF. If there is still an imbalance, then we must discuss with the EU the size of our contribution.

2. Unemployment: Instead of paying people benefit or unemployment, they will be taken into the army and trained. Not to be soldiers, but in many other support and ancillary fields- Engineering and technology, catering, construction etc. We will need many new camps to house these army personnel, and they can build them. There will be no more money for nothing.

3. Illegal Immigrants. These will not be allowed to linger in camps, or be housed as benefit claimants, but will be sent to work the land. The larger army noted in 2 above will need feeding, and these are the people who will grow it.

4. Health: Preventative medicine will be the norm, but all aspects must be evidence based.
   - Organ donation will be an Opt-out situation, but people that opt-out will be responsible for their own health and may(?) not use the NHS.
   - Simplify Doctors expectations. They must not have a plethora of targets to meet, for each of which they are paid. This is too complex.
   - Obesity – Education, Nutrition and exercise. If you are obese, you are charged equivalently for things that you use. If you can afford to eat that much, then you can afford to pay for it.
   - Smoking – If you smoke, there is a premium to be paid to the NHS for any care given.
   - There will be a charge for all prescriptions. Too many 'free' prescriptions are picked up and never used.
5. Aid: If foreign countries want aid from us, it should be given in the form of skills to help these countries. Our unemployed university graduates should be paid to go and assist these countries. We will give them a salary, flights and accommodation. For students who do not have a job 6 months after graduation this should be mandatory instead of claiming unemployment and being treated as in 2 above. The salary will not be large.

6. Education and universities: It is not that we are interested only in what can be done for the oldies. We are aware that in our dotage the youth of today will hopefully have grown up and be able to run the country. Therefore we need them to have a good education. This education needs a good foundation and therefore has to start with the modern version of the three 'R's'. Reading and Arithmetic are still essential. In the post war period everybody could work in three umber systems, and convert easily between them. (Decimal, base 12, and base 20). And pounds weight (base 16) and stones (base 14). Fractions were also an essential part of the system. They still are. If the UK is to remain an industrial and inventive leader, then we need to re-invent the technical education concept.