Anne Marie is having a weekend of activism, so this week’s Sunday Column has been written by the Party Chairman.

“Respect your elders”

A phrase we can all remember being told when growing up. And with good reason too. As life develops, we realise that much of the advice and comment given to us by our parents or more elderly people proved to be sound, as nothing can replace life experience. I remember often rejecting the words of my parents as a teenager, thinking I knew better. But I didn’t, and looking back I realise how they were right about pretty much everything – especially as a parent now myself. And all their advice was selfless, because they simply wanted the best for me.

Cultures across the world have also taught this wise approach, with elders often revered and venerated, sometimes even worshipped after death. But in recent years, here in the UK, we have seen our approach to the older members of society deteriorate, and it is unpleasant to see.

The time I first started to notice a dramatic change was around the time of the Brexit vote. A functioning society would have listened to the generation that had 40 years experience of living through the EU. Many older people articulated the erosion of control and independence in the EU and believed the future was better for their kids and grand kids outside. The vast majority of older people still live the morality and ethics of a generation that puts others first, including people that were so selfless they rushed to fight fascism for the protection of their country and families.

One would have hoped for at least civil discussion, but instead we then had a widespread assault on the old and their opinions, which all too often turned into disgusting death fantasies. How many time did we see pundits and celebrities tweeting life expectancy figures and working out the point where enough older people would be dead to swing the Brexit decision?

To believe that your views and opinions as a 16 year old completely invalidate that of someone who has lived 70 or 80 years, seeing it all, points to a selfish generation that lacks common decency and respect, and this is a major worry for the future.

There are of course many good younger people so we cannot generalise, but what we see is a shift.. a trend. We see it elsewhere. I had the unfortunate experience of my mother being rushed into hospital. I was called in during the early hours and the first thing the medical staff did when I arrived was to try and force me to sign a ‘do not resuscitate’ form. It was a horrendous experience to be greeted with in that situation, hoping to catch me in a vulnerable moment. The message I took was ‘this is a bed she is taking, and inconvenient for us’.

Fortunately she recovered, but it didn’t stop her being treated badly in the hospital. She became ill again due to lack of food and water (had become dangerously underweight); she was not able to eat the inappropriate food they brought round at mealtime. Instead of noticing she hadn’t eaten, they simply removed the untouched food and drink and did nothing else. I had to break the rules and take in appropriate food at visit times, and am convinced without me doing this, she would never have left that hospital. No wonder such a large percentage of the NHS budget is for settling negligence claims.

The state of our NHS is for another article.

Most people reading this will agree that there is an assault on families, the family unit in particular. But also all the values, morals and ethics that have served us well for generations. We spent time with our grandparents, listening stories and enjoying every minute of it (OK, most of it!), and learnt our life lessons. Now the state wants to teach us our values. Schools and Universities have replaced the ‘father to son’ talk for many – and we can all take a little blame. As life became more complex, technology made us busier by fooling us into making us believe it was making life easier. We’ve allowed the state to fill the void, because we don’t gather often enough as a family and just talk.

“Grandad is from a different time, he’s bigoted to think men cannot menstruate. He’s making it up about his wartime experiences in Arab countries as he just doesn’t like brown people”.. and so on. Teachers are openly political, and invariably left wing, and are feeling emboldened enough to push the envelope on what can be promoted in our schools and colleges. It’s all contributing to the breakdown of respect. Curriculums are evolving all the time, it is shocking to see how much now attacks Britain, her history, her culture and elevates everyone else as somehow better.

Simple truths, simply told such as ‘there are plenty of good reasons not be fat’ have been deemed inappropriate by the woke class. Most of the best advice I have ever had in life has been in direct and to the point statements such as these from people who have learned and experienced far more than I have.

Nish Kumar, ‘comedian’ and BBC favourite took a break from attacking British heritage and joked ‘I want you white people in the audience to do something for me….. I want you to go home and kill your racist Brexit-voting parents’. Charming eh? But it is OK when the left do it, a right wing figure saying the reverse wouldn’t appear on TV or social media again.

This is all part of the drip, drip, drip effect of undermining the older in society. The disrespect has spread too, it isn’t just left activists and students, we have seen it in certain professions. We all saw the appalling scenes of one of our veterans being pounced on and man handled to the ground by police at Dover during the protest against illegal immigrants. If only they acted with such enthusiasm against the criminals entering the country! It isn’t just Britain, in Australia police manhandled and arrested an elderly (and quite frail looking) pair of men who were protesting against masks and the lockdown. They are scenes that would scarcely have seemed believable 5 years ago. Some of the footage in Care Homes caught on CCTV is too distressing to even talk about.

There is no consideration in decision making for older people, as we saw with the ridiculous ‘Land of Hope & Glory’ on last night of the Proms debacle. Many older people have been locked up in care homes or isolated for months. Many still stand for the Queen on TV and have had generations before them passing down what our history, royalty and achievements mean. So when a 25 year old immigrant on Sky News tells us why the song should be banned, why on earth should her (preferred pronoun assumed) opinion carry any weight against generations of Britons? The anti British feeling of these vindictive people is happy to cause distress to our elders who are heartbroken by what is happening.

During COVID, we haven’t allowed them to be with family, even in their final moments. It is a wicked scandal.

Age counts for nothing – in fact it now counts against you – and this unpleasant age has been ushered in by nihilist intolerant and ugly people who think of nobody other than themselves and their hatred for the country they are blessed to live in.

I am happy to say that For Britain does not adopt this mindset. Our respect for people with long and varied lives, and what they can teach us couldn’t be higher. Actually, we feel loss for the time when society held their values, and Britain was a safer, happier and a just more tolerant place. We may not have had as much, but we knew right from wrong, and who to show respect and courtesy to.

It starts with rejecting this assault on us from the left, in whatever form the Marxists take – be it Extinction Rebellion, Black Lives Matter or whatever. The Tories are failing miserably, and Labour would only accelerate it even further.

It isn’t only this party that sees it, most people we talk to do. I am sure it is the same for you, so let’s tell them that there is something they can do about it. Help promote the only party that is awake to this and will tackle it head on. The war we are fighting now may not carry the same risks that our elders had to endure, but if you feel that same sense of selfless pride and determination to fight for what you believe in, join us in this battle for Britain, a battle for hearts and for minds.

Losing isn’t an option we can consider.