I've been saying it for years now that, although I envy the young adults in my family their youth, I would, on balance, not want to be having my working life in front of me today - I think I had the better deal by being someone who started working in 1974. I cocked up my A levels, so had no chance of getting to University - not that I would have gone anyway. However, if I had thought differently, then I could have gone on to further education knowing that I wouldn't have to worry about the loan I had to pay off because I wanted to get the best education I could - my honeymoon with the Blair Government ended as soon as they confirmed they would be bringing in student loans and it was a big step along a path which turned me from an ardent Labour man into an occasional voter for "the People's Party".

More and more it seems to me that I was so lucky to be born when I was, too late to experience the ravages and after effects of war and too early to be in the generations that are going to have to pay the price for people in power of my age being more intent on enjoying the good times, rather than planning ahead for what the consequences of better health care and longer life would be in terms of pensions for today's youngsters.

That said, I don't feel to blame in any way for what the world looks like today for those who are thirty, forty and fifty years younger than me on a personal basis - they have my sympathy, but they are looking in the wrong place if they feel the "ordinary" baby boomer is responsible for the mess the world is in today.