My parents have become insufferable.

It’s also ageist to generalise about young people (e.g. they think they know everything).

There seem to be an increasing amount of racist apologists on MN attempting to derail every thread.

I don’t think OPs initial post was ageist at all, it must be irritating and tedious to see how her parents have changed. Some of the follow up answers are veering towards ageism.

My friend's dm will send her great big long messages listing everything she has done in the day. My friend is busy with 3 kids, chronic illness, never complains. The dm doesn't work and chooses to do these things, and has others to speak to, only 70. She even brought a graphic colour pic around to dfs house showing the polyps inside her bowels (do the nhs print these out ?!), and infront of the kids! Drives my friend nuts.

It sounds like they’ve become a bit insular, only having a few talking points - mainly from the news - is a sign of this.
Do they get out and about and socialise at all? WI, U3A, local day centre activities?
It can become very easy for anyone to get stuck in an echo chamber.

I have a similar situation with a distant aunt, luckily I don’t speak to her much myself but a family friend says she complains a lot about immigration and “foreigners” even though it doesn’t impact her day to day life in the slightest (always had a good job, great nhs treatment etc) but she spends every day watching and reading the news and getting herself all worked up. Meanwhile my uncle (her brother) a few towns over in his 70s has some hobbies, a social club, all kinds of opinions and debate goes on with him not all I agree with but he has a broader outlook because his friends are from all different professions and backgrounds.

What happens if you say 'Mum/dad, can we talk about something else? I know how you feel about this, and it would be good to talk about something different.'

Time to interrupt.

The NHS is in a poor state. I am having to pay privately to get my child the support he needs as there is no NHS service for his medically diagnosed condition where I am ( and even in Boards which do have a service it is a poor service). Everyone I know who can afford private health insurance has bought it because of the state of the NHS.

There is an issue with rapid large scale immigration in our country.

If you are dismissing what they saying with labels rather than evidence and coherent debate, maybe it is you who is the bigot.

It's not impossible. But maybe you've previously tended to nod and go along with what they say? Avoid any conflict?

Just hang up or go home. You don't have to spend time with people you don't like. They're behaving like toddlers, treat them as such.

If they are in all day every day with GB News playing on loop, this is, very unfortunately, what will happen OP. They are absorbing extremely narrow, bigoted propaganda and sadly, this has become their whole universe. Have you ever watched GB 'News.' It's not even news! Not remotely. It's very bitter and petty loons frankly, rambling about immigration and 'the establishment.' The whole thing is aimed at the lowest level of intelligence. It's quite unbelievable to actually witness, and scary to think that millions of people are probably basing their whole world vision on this utter drivel.

My dad is the same. Used to be a fairly normal, functioning adult. Now he watches GB News and has lost any capacity for normal discourse. He talks 'at' people, not with them. Doesn't care about actual facts - everything and anything is the fault of migrants. Even though he lives in a part of the U.K. where there are barely any illegal migrants! This is the joke of it. Mind you, even he is beginning to see through Farage and Reform. so there is some hope at least. He won't admit to it - yet - but I see it slowly dawning. Nevertheless, for now at least, anyone who even mildly disagrees with anything he says is summarily dismissed as 'the Establishment' or 'The Liberal Elite' or 'The Left.' Even if you have never voted Labour in your life, you still deemed to be 'the Left' if you're not incandescent and perpetually raging about immigration 😆. But of course he, as a white man of middle England all-fine-here-thankyou-very-much is not of 'the establishment' at all. Noooo. He now says you have to 'pick a side.' Wtf! His world is GB News. And he is always RIGHT - even in the face of 100% proof to the contrary. Being 'right' is now more important than truth and understanding nuance.

It's insecurity basically - these sort of people rarely have anything to say unless it's putting other people down. That's their only conversation topic.

Not parents, but my aunt. She retired at 63 last year and honestly - she aged 10 years during first few months of retirement. She was lovely, chatty women with hobbies, etc. Now she only talks about politics and Russia. That's all. Im pretty sure Dementia is waiting behind the corner....

It’s become polarised: the enlightened younger generation versus the bigoted geriatrics.

Perhaps the younger generation are in fact somewhat bigoted and push the oldies towards things like GB News, which I’ve never heard of.

Perhaps the oh-so-sure youngies should look more thoughtfully into the origins of geriatrics’ opinions.

I grew up in a white working class and lower middle class suburb which was effectively completely white. There was a sense of community and shared values there, which was blown wide apart by immigration from the 1970s.

Surely people were correct in feeling something was lost when shared neighbourhood street life was destroyed from the outside? This did not happen to the middle class.

Likewise, I remember London when the centre was dominated by a uniquely ‘British’ vibe.

Unfortunately, pc has outlawed dialogue about such matters. This is compounded by ageism where the norm is to belittle rather than respect the wisdom and experience of old age.

I say these things as coming from a partly immigrant family who had every reason to feel gratitude for having their lives saved by GB’s acceptance of them as citizens.

Are you putting someone down by any chance? 🤣

you're the one turning it into an ageist 'young vs old' debate.

This is about racist people, whatever their age.

The OPs parents were previously kind, thoughtful, happy and non-racist. This is about that change into unhappy narrow insular people. Not about their age.

Then again, sounds like you've always been racist.

They’re her parents. If they’re ‘behaving like toddlers’, probably they need some support from their daughter.
At the least, she could discuss with them the circumstances that have led to their views which she dislikes.
Perhaps she could encourage them to find more interests.
Perhaps the NHS is in such trouble because ‘toddler’ young people shirk their responsibilities towards their parents and wider family.
Part of being an adult is understanding one’s responsibilities,

Thats my point. An older person is more likely to say something prejudiced and anti Irish like this. Also more to get sucked into the GB News loops the OP on this thread has raised.

I addressed the ageism points in one of my posts on the anti Irish thread.

The ageism what aboutery is really tedious and unfortunately plays into the narrative that older people have a tendency to be self centred and think stuff is all about them.

News flash: it’s not.

‘sounds like you've always been racist.’

Highly unlikely as I said I come from an immigrant family myself. 🤣
When people feel the need to chuck insults around, it’s obvious they don’t have anything intelligent to say.

Again, OP, do you ever do anything with your parents? Do you ever visit a stately home, go to the theatre or the cinema, go to a talk, visit a museum or art gallery, etc? If you do things with them, there'll be something else for you all to talk about, and I'm sure it'd do them good. And have you done anything to encourage them to take up a hobby or to volunteer - something that takes them out of the house and into the company of new people, with a ready-made mutual interest to talk about? I think you need to take action, rather than just complaining. They don't sound very happy. A book club would be great, as that's time spent reading a book every month, rather than just watching TV, and they then have a lively conversation / debate with other people who live locally, on something that is not the GB news.

Being 'from an immigrant family' does not automatically mean you can't be racist.

Just like "I have a black friend, how can I be racist".

Well that's bollocks. Asylum seekers have access to the NHS but they aren't given priority. In fact, official reports indicate that language barriers and administrative confusion mean asylum seekers often face more difficulties accessing care than people who were born here.

Literally could have written your post myself. Parents are the same, retired, late sixties, do nothing with their time since retiring. Their life is very dull, their days are spent watching tv, reading newspapers, going to Dr appts or Tescos. They have nothing interesting to talk about apart from complaining about tescos not selling the correct type of apples/ having to wait 20 minutes for their Dr appts, or generally moaning.

It’s partly age, partly personality. yours sound like they do nothing with their days.
I can’t change my parents, it is infuriating and sad. My mother insists she’s no time to do hobbies, and that she has a fulfilling life…I go around with my child and she’s there reading the paper for a good 2 hours…making a sandwich and pottering about, then having a ‘rest’ after lunch..another hour goes by and it’s 3pm and nothing has happened. She thinks that’s a lovely day.
I don’t know how to change it. I just will never be like that when I’m older.

No, it isn’t but when you are dismissed because people make assumptions about you on sight it isn’t very pleasant.
Also you only have to look at the mainstream news to see that there are plenty of prejudiced people in younger age groups. I do have sympathy with OP, it must be very difficult to deal with and I don’t think she’s being ageist but I do think that you are showing a degree of prejudice.

My dm will say she wants to see the dc, then start moaning on at me about things, and not interacting much with them. We've never had the best rel, but I am struggling with her.

OP’s parents are only in their 60s. I don’t think it’s her responsibility to “encourage “ activities. I think all she can do is tell them straight that the political talk is getting on her nerves and end the call or go home if it gets too much. It’s sad they have changed so much.