Nick Robinson on the Today programme said that people affected by withdrawing the Winter Fuel Allowance were "the wartime generation". AIBU to think he's wrong?

[HauntedBungalow]

Also, I am genuinely bored of this British obsession with referencing World War II when talking about unrelated random subjects.

World War II ended 80 years ago. The "wartime generation" don't need a Winter Fuel Allowance because they're all already dead, barring the odd 97 year old who is still living at home and paying all bills themselves.

You do realise that you live the life you live precisely because of the things those people went through.

Agree. It’d be more accurate to say baby boomer generation, no?

Those are the mumsnetters who will be inheriting that disgusting inheritance from their despicable wealthy parents 🤣

Not actually true though is it? I'd argue a young baby, especially a newborn is every bit as frail and vulnerable as an elderly person.
It should be means tested across the population, or at least across vulnerable groups. NOT given universally to everyone aged 65 and over.

If you are are an 85 year old woman now you -

Spent the first 6 years of your life being raised in a war where your parents were often working for the war effort/away fighting.

You were 16 before rationing ended...so all aspects of your diet, clothing and household goods were controlled and limited.

Were 31 before you were entitled to equal pay. (1970)

Were 35 before you could take out a loan without a male cosigning the paperwork for you. (1974)

Were 43 before it became illegal to refuse to serve a woman in a pub. (1982)

Nobody gets it easy.

Mumsnet is an overwhelmingly middle class place. My mother went to New York in April and is currently in Tuscany. I retired at 55, as did my husband. I hope to be doing the same as my 85 year old mother at her age. There are many rich pensioners and many who are much poorer. Perhaps the poorer ones are focusing on getting through each day rather than posting on here.

Cleary for the OP it means anyone who is given money that she feels they do not deserve because 'all old people are massively rich and live in mansions and take 609 holidays per annum and it is not fair'

So Boomers then. The truly disadvantaged ones will still receive it.

Some posters on this thread seem to be rather lacking in maths skills! My DF died last year and also wasn't in nappies during the war years.

I have a real dislike of the endless obsession with covid lockdowns. Contrary to what most of MN seems to believe they were nothing like as damaging as WWII was and yet posters on MN will be banging on about how hard it was until the day they die.

I suspect those who are "bored" with WWII wouldn't have coped with it for more than a week had they been there at the time, and their mental health would have been shot to pieces with the restrictions imposed, let alone the threat of danger. It's very easy to dismiss something which has had no effect on you.

How embarrassing to be so ignorant. No-one who was born during/just before the war is a boomer.

The current generation of pensioners might have caught a bit of the war and post war austerity as very young babies / toddlers but they’ve had it very easy in so many ways compared to subsequent generations. And they really do like being reminded of that for some reason.

They could also have kept it but done away with the triple lock.

I'm fully supportive of ensuring those with the most need receive the most support - people of all ages across the board. There's simply no room in the current financial climate for one population demographic to cling onto a universally applied benefit, while others make sacrifices. Those in most need of WFA will still receive it. Let's not forget that the government also took the decision to keep the two child benefit cap. While this drew some criticism, it died a quick death compared to this WFA issue. How many of those without young dependents to support were as vocal around the benefit cap decision as they are about WFA?

They didn't put it in their manifesto for one or both of these reasons:

1. They didn't intend to do it until they realised the full extent of the UK's dire financial situation.

1. Older people are statistically more likely to vote Conservative. It took a swing of pension age voters from Tory to Labour to secure a large majority. It would have been political suicide to have put this in their manifesto - and it could well have ended their chances of winning. And then we'd all be whinging because we were stuck with the Tories for another term.

The dismissal of the hardships faced by children during the war shows a real lack of understanding of how it was for children then.

"The war affected the health of all the population, especially children. Common health problems included head lice, skin diseases and poor nutrition caused by rationing of food, clothing, soap and footwear. But the mental health of young people also suffered.
Ten percent of the country’s population was evacuated and most were children. They needed support to deal with the effects of separation and loss of homes and family members. And there was a general lack of childhood: there were no new toys or clothes, and children helped out with the war effort from collecting salvage and running errands to helping with farming."

And imagine the effect of this on children.......

The British pet massacre was a week-long event in 1939 in which an estimated 400,000 cats and dogs, a quarter of England's pet population, were killed so that food used for animals could be reserved to prepare for the war.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_pet_massacre
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/articles/zr38cqt

www.rcpch.ac.uk/news-events/news/carrot-day-child-health-during-world-war-ii

It's really worth remembering that those old folk you see shuffling round the Sainsbury's were those children.

Isn't that just an example of the Labour-bias BBC suggesting that removing the WFA is going to have little impact, as most of the 'wartime generation' are not with us anymore. BBC presenters certainly won't have worry about their bills.

Another ignorant statement
My parent was born in 1937, lived through the entire war and the crap that came after in terms of rationing into the 50s, national Service, and other austerity measures
He does not have all this endless money, property and lifestyle of an insta influencer that not only the OP, but many ignorant people seem to think anyone over 80 has. Not everyone in that generation fell into that 'sweet spot' you seem to think exists where they all had a job, could buy property for 2s and 6d and were given free coal every week

I take the "wartime generation" to be the one immediately before the so-called Boomers.

That being so, there are still a sizeable number around and I think he was right.

How embarrassing to be so rude.

I misread the post. My point remains though that I suspect Nick Robinson was actually referring to those born slightly after the war. His intention was to elicit sympathy for those who fought for the country. What he actually meant was those who may have endured rationing and rebuilding the country after the war. I don't doubt that was hard, but it's not the same. And we're now trying to rebuild the country after the Tories, so all this misty eyed nostalgia is off the table.

There is very definitely still a wartime generation. My dad was born in 1935. He's not a baby boomer, he's from the Silent Generation who fought or grew up during the war.

He remembers being evacuated to Wales during the Blitz at 5yo. He played on bombsites in London and many parts of it were still rubble for years after the war ended. He and his family lived in the 2 bedroom upstairs flat of a victorian terrace, the new towns with houses and gardens wouldn't be built for years yet. Rationing didn't end until he was 19.

He didn't go to university, he learned to be an electrician in the RAF during his National Service, which boomers never had to do.

Absolutely this!

And Brexit, don’t forget Brexit!!!!! I’ll take my dying breath still hearing about fucking Brexit abd Nigel Farage and those bloody buses.

I actually feel a bit sorry for Keir Starmer already. His legacy is going to be killing old people. Even if the old people die with cold as one contributing factor the press will spin it to read that the blame lies solely at the feet of Labour.

My parents and inlaws were born before and during the war and whilst I wouldn't particularly describe them as the wartime generation, they do remember those days and the suffering that came with it. But neither are they boomers; they're born from 1948 to 1962 and the younger boomers won't have retired yet. So the elderly span both pre war, wartime and the older boomer generations. Regardless, the wartime experiences of the elderly are relevant because their experiences will have affected them throughout their lives - not just death, loss and abandonment but the need to scrimp and save. When we cleared my late FILs house last year, we unearthed an almost hoarding situation when he kept everything that could be reused in some way. It was a humbling situation. As for winter warmth, some elderly people still hold onto the mentality of making-do and will not apply for help despite needing it, because that's what they're used to doing. I feel very fortunate not to have gone through what my relatives went through and I am proud of their contributions and resilience. This isn't to say I don't have my issues (raising disabled children is one big challenge in our society at the moment) but I don't begrudge other vulnerable people of the support they need.

My relatives are in their late 80s & 90s & I have neighbours in their 90s as well.

I have just checked
2x big bags of logs from the local supplier for the wood burner are £210.
Plus there will be a cost for kindling & fire lighters.

Plus there is the cost of oil for the radiators & the cost of electricity.

Not all pensioners are swimming in money !

Yes, I did grow up hearing stories about WW11 & my Uncle was sent to Burma.

Meanwhile, everyone has completely forgotten how many died as a result of a failed, and deliberate, herd immunity experiment.