Older people can remain productive members of society – Boris Johnson shouldn’t let that go to waste after the lockdown ends

According to Dame Joan Bakewell, the government must stop treating the elderly “like a crazy old people’s club”. Boris Johnson promises plans for easing lockdown will be announced next week, but there’s no light at the end of his Alpine tunnel for my generation.

Some doctors and scientists are calling for the over-70s to isolate for months to come until a Covid-19 vaccine is available – possibly the end of this year or even 2021. Meanwhile, any healthy pensioner who dares to express the desire to go back to work or leave home and meet much-missed family members is shouted down by a mob on social media, demonised for “placing the NHS at risk”.

But is this true? Among those who have suffered the most during this pandemic are the overweight, smokers, people with lung conditions and existing medical conditions. Yes, those over 70 are more likely to be vulnerable, but not all – look at legendary Colonel Tom Moore (100) and Jeremy Corbyn (70) who attended prime minister’s questions this week rather than sitting at home.

We are witnessing the horrible rise of age discrimination, brought about by fear and misinformation. Don’t make healthy baby boomers (and older people) pay the price for our government’s mismanagement of this crisis. It is ministers who approved entering lockdown two weeks too late, are failing to organise testing quickly enough and continuing to allow planes to bring thousands of visitors to the UK every day without checking their symptoms.

I beg the prime minister to offer a phased return to normality which is fair for everyone, not just the young – and cut the waffle about meadows and mountains. Joan Bakewell is a Labour peer, a former government advocate for older people, and at 87, she’s still a prolific writer and broadcaster. Listen to her frustration on Christopher Hope’s Chopper’s Politics podcast on Friday claiming that politicians stupidly assume everyone over 70 has the same mental and physical characteristics and leads the same kind of lives, whereas there’s just as many differences for the generations aged between 30 and 60.

If you’re 70, you could be like Colonel Tom and expect another thirty years of active life. In your thirties and middle age there will be obese people, fit people, active people and loafers. There will be workers and those who stay at home. So why do politicians continually patronise pensioners?

This cabinet is the youngest since 1945, with an average age of 47.8 – at 55, Boris is the third eldest member – and our chancellor is just 39. Boris might have a fiancee over two decades his junior and a new baby to keep him in touch with “youth”, but does he really understand how people over 70 feel?

The signs are not good. To end lockdown in a phased manner he must bring together people of every generation, involve behavioural scientists and psychologists as well as medics and scientists. Older people have a wealth of life experience, are capable of making informed decisions about what risks to take with their health, but now they’re being treated like children.

When Dame Joan said on The One Show this week that (after 50 days of solitude) she invited a friend to tea in her garden (and they stood the proscribed distance apart), there was outrage from some viewers. There is little risk to standing two metres apart in a supermarket queue, so what’s wrong with a cup of tea in a garden?

Now, ITV boss Kevin Lygo has said that older actors cannot return to work in soaps like Coronation Street – because he fears for the health of Ken Barlow. I have been told by ITV that I cannot go back to work into the studio for the same reason, which is ridiculous when I see overweight smokers a couple of generations younger given the go-ahead. Is it because of misguided insurance advice?

Once again, older people are being linked to the P-word – problem. Wouldn’t it be handy for everyone if we spent the rest of our lives digging our gardens, talking to the dog and pottering about dusting, instead of demanding we can return to work and denying young people a slot in the workplace – the same younger people who are pretending lockdown doesn’t apply to them.

The reason why care homes are suffering so terribly is because this government didn’t make them a priority quickly enough and allowed residents to be discharged from hospitals without being tested. Age discrimination at worse, thoughtlessness at the very least.

One way back to normality is to introduce medical passports for all age groups, which would be mandatory for anyone over 70. These passports could require weekly testing, a healthy weight, no smoking, and a lack of existing medical conditions which might make the bearer vulnerable. If I pass all these tests, then why can’t I go back to work as the lockdown eases?

The current policy of issuing endless death statistics and infection rates has produced widespread fear. Scientists are cautious and do not radiate optimism. The prime minister tries to exude positivity, but doesn’t offer detail. The net result of the government’s approach has been a surge in anxiety and negativity. A new poll shows that – even if lockdown ended – 60 per cent of the public now fear going to bars and restaurants, using public transport, or attending sporting events. More worrying, 40 per cent are scared of going to the shops and sending their children back to school. A third are worried about going out at all.

According to one expert, people need to ask themselves “before the virus, was I worried about dying this year?” If the answer is no, then they should not be so worried about contracting it. The government’s big message – stay at home an stay safe – might have been successful but it has engendered disproportionate anxiety. That consequence is going to require careful risk management if the economy is ever going to restart.

Older people have decades of managing risk and evaluating life choices, so don’t deny us the right to remain useful and productive members of society. And don’t keep us from our friends and families any longer, Mr Johnson.